4 







GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



A Record of Some of the Best Thoughts Exchanged at 
THE Thirty Days' Conference for Bible Study 
Convened by Mr. Moody at 

NORTHFIELD, MaSS. 




EDITED BY T. J. SHANKS. 




F. H. Revell, 148 and 150 Madison Street, 

Publisher of Evangelical Literature. 



( / b i^, I 

■TV 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by 

F. H. REVELL, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PKEFAOE. 



The conference of Christian workers at Northfield, 
Mass., during the month of August, 1881, was a gathering 
of more than transient interest. The large experience in 
Gospel activities of those who presented the various topics, 
gave a peculiar competency to their words and specially 
adapted them to the instruction and upbuilding of all 
engaged in Gospel work. In the belief that they will 
not suffer by a careful perusal, the best sayings of those 
thirty days have been collated from accurate stenographic 
notes and put in this permanent form, that those who 
heard them may be re-inspired, and that the gi'eater 
number who were denied that privilege may be likewise 
blessed and quickened. 



• 



CONTEISTTS. 



PAGE. 

L Joseph of Aeimathea 9 

II. Sin 24 

III. Redemption 33 

rv. Repentance 36 

V. The Belieyer's Standing 40 

VI. Iniquities Forgotten 42 

VII. Our Great High Priest 44 

VIIL Praise 53 

IX. CoivEvruNiON 54 

X. Love to Christ 57 

XL The Transfiguration ' 59 

XII. The Second Coming 62 

XIII. Consecration for Service 83 

XIV. The Holy Spirit 92 

XV. Special Endowment for Service 104 

XVI. Questions on the Spirit 115 

XVII. John the Baptist 136 

XVIII. He Must Increase 152 

XIX. Revivals 163 

XX. Parents and Children 185 

XXI. Hints on Preaching 197 

XXII. Our Source of Power 203 

XXIIL The Great Commission 210^ 



! 




\ 



CHAPTER I. 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 

DISCOUESE BY THE EEV. DK. ANDEEW A. BONAE, OF GLASGOW, SCOT- 
LAND^ THE CHEISTIAN LAYMAN FIDELITY TO GOD IN HIGH 

STATIONS "looking UPON CHEISt" THE SECEET OF COUEAGE. 

Dr. Bonar said: In the Gospel of Matthew, 27th chap- 
ter, 57-60th verses, we read: " When the even was come, 
there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who 
also himself was Jesus' disciple: he went to Pilate and 
begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the 
body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, 
he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own 
new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled 
a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed." 

In the Gospel of Mark we have something more said, in 
the 15th chapter and 43d verse: " Joseph of Arimathea, an 
honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of 
God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the 
body of Jesus. And Pilate marveled if He were already 
dead: and calling him unto the centurion, he asked him 
whether He had been any while dead. And when he knew 
it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he 
bought fine linen, and took Him down, and wrapped Him 
in the linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher which was hewn 
out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepul- 
cher." 

Luke, in his Gospel, adds a little more (xxiii, 50) : "And, 
behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor ; and he 

(9) A 



10 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



was a good man, and a just (the same had not con- 
sented to the counsel and deed of them) ; he was of Arima- 
thea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the 
kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged 
the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in 
linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, 
wherein never man before was laid." 

And John, in his Gospel, has yet something more to add. 
He says, in the xix, 38, " And after this Joseph of Arima- 
thea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the 
Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of 
Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and 
took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, 
which at the hrst came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixt- 
ure of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 
Then took they the body of J esus and wound it in linen 
clothes with the spices, as the manner of Jews is to bury. 
Now, in the place where He was crucified, there was a gar- 
den; and in the garden, a new sepulcher, wherein was never 
man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore." 

There was a man of God in London many years ago who 
used to say to his people occasionally, " Be you very careful 
how you walk, for the world will not read the Bible, but 
they will read you. They will form an idea of the Master 
from what they see you to be." Now, brethren, that is one 
reason for taking a case like the present — a disciple — and 
showing you the Master through him. Joseph is to teach 
us to-day what is written about Him. And did you notice 
that each of the four evangelists speaks of Joseph? All 
seem eager to tell of him; and all have something good to 
say about him He is the only man whom the four evangel- 
ists join in commending to our notice. They are generally 
sparing in their commendations regarding the disciples ; but 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



11 



as to this man, they not only use very plentiful commenda- 
tion, but all join. Why is this? First, they loved the man 
who loved the Master; and they loved the man who so loved 
the Master that he gave Him his own tomb. 

That's not all. The Holy Ghost takes care to suggest 
to the minds of the evangelists — " Forget not my servant 
Joseph, who in a dark hour came forth and did such good 
service for his Lord. Insert his story for an example to 
those who come up in after ages." 

Now, we find seven Josephs mentioned in the Scriptures. 
Four of these, however, we know nothing of beyond their 
own and their fathers' names; but the other three are well 
known. Of these, the first is Joseph the governor of Egypt. 
Young people, I'm sore, all know this Joseph, Jacob's son, 
the man of wonderful grace, that even Pharaoh, his heathen 
master, saw the grace in him, and said, " There is none like 
him, in whom the Spirit of God is." And such a testimony 
from such a man shows us how brightly the grace of God 
shone in him. Then there is another Joseph we all know — 
Joseph the husband of Mary. To him was committed the 
honor of caring for Christ in His infancy, and watching over 
Him with love and tenderness. These are the two never to 
be forgotten ; but I think, in many respects, the one before us^ 
Joseph of Arimathea, is the most noticeable of all the others. 

First of all, I want you to notice his birth-place 
and his station in life; second, to notice his character as a 
man, and as a disciple; and then, lastly, his place in the 
history of the church. Each one of these particulars is just 
full of instruction; but we must not do more than glance at 
each in turn. 

Well, first, his birth-place — Arimathea. Where was it ? 
For some time it was thought to be the same as Rama, which 
every traveler coming upon the plain of Sharon sees. But 



12 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



later writers have discovered objections to that theory, and 
consequently have given it up. Again, it is thought by many 
to be the same as Bamah, where young Samuel was bom. 
Young people will like to hear that. But we can't be cer- 
tain as to its absolute identity with this or that particular 
town. At any rate, he was born there; and if so, how does 
it come to pass that he had a sepulcher in Jerusalem ? The 
sepulcher of his fathers at Arimathea would be the natural 
place for him and his family to be buried. Brethren, there 
is a great deal in this — a great deal of Providence in it. I 
think there can be little doubt that Joseph was a rich man, 
and that, before his conversion, he had a good deal of pride 
and ambition, that wealth so often gives to a man. And it 
was the fashion among the rich people at that day to have 
a tomb at Jerusalem. You remember, in the prophecy of 
Isaiah, the prophet was sent to ask Shebua, the treasurer, 
for whom he was hewing out the sepulcher, and why he was 
doing it. And, I suppose, just in the same way Joseph 
thought, " I would like to have a sepulcher, too, to perpet- 
uate my name." It was not easy, however, getting a place, 
so many had taken sites; and all the good places had been 
taken. But at last he found a place for his tomb at a point 
you would never have expected him to fix upon — near Cal- 
vary. There was a spot to be bought there, and Joseph 
bought it; and, being near the place of execution, he took 
care to have a garden round it. Little did he know, at that 
time, and less did he care, what was to come of this. God 
often has a plan in the lives of unconverted men which they 
know little of. And so it was with Joseph. God overruled 
his pride and ambition in buying the tomb for purposes we 
shall see. 

Brethren, this much about his birth-place and his buy- 
ing the tomb; now, what was his standing in society ? Well, 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



13 



he must have been a rich man, since he could buy a tomb; 
and you remember, too, that Matthew was careful to say- 
that he was a rich man. And just here notice something 
peculiar about Matthew. Forty-five times he quotes pro- 
phecies from the Old Testament referring to Christ as the 
promised Messiah, and he is constantly bringing forward 
what exalts Christ as the Messiah, for you know he was a 
Jew. And so here he takes care to say that Joseph was a 
rich man. And then we read in another of the evangelists 
that he was an honorable man, a man held in honor. Now, 
you know, dear brethren, it is written, " Not many wise, not 
many rich, not many noble are called;" yet the Lord always 
has some wise, some rich, some noble among His followers. 
And Joseph was taken at this season as one of this class. 
Joseph was not a fisherman; Joseph was not a poor man; 
Joseph was a man high up in society; he was of honorable 
position. You remember you read in Acts of honorable 
women, who listened to the preaching of the Word. Now, 
that was just Joseph's position — a man held in esteem by 
those around him, and consequently when he went to Pilate 
he was well received. 

But here is a remarkable thing connected with his sit- 
uation. "When he came to Christ and believed in Him, 
Christ did not tell him to give up his position in society, 
and become as a fisherman. No; Christ evidently intended 
him to remain where he was, as a counselor and witness for 
Him among those with whom he daily came in contact. 
You know it is far more difficult to speak to your own flesh 
and blood, and bear testimony for Christ, than to go to those 
who do not know you. Now, we find very often when a 
young man is converted, he is almost always inclined at first 
to say^ " I shall give up my position; I know I could do far 
more good if I was a preacher, so I'll leave my business 



14 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



and become a preacher of the Gospel." Now, before any 
one does a thing of that sort, he should be very certain that 
God wants him to do it. Very often mistakes are made 
just in this way. God may have given you some work to do 
for Him in the position in which He has placed you, which 
no one else could do if you were to leave it undone. We 
should be very careful how we wish to change from what- 
ever position in life God has seen fit to put us. 

But we come, secondly, to speak of Joseph's character; 
and let us notice it in this way: His character before his 
conversion, and his character after. I think there is little 
doubt when Luke says of him that he was " a good man and 
just," that he is describing the man as he was naturally. The 
distinction between the two expressions, when put together, 
is this: A just man is a man who in society is most exact in 
all the details of duty, honorable in his dealings; he won't 
swindle or trick anybody; he pays all his debts; he won't 
injure any one — that's a just man. But a man may be all 
this, and yet not a very pleasant man, perhaps a little stern ; 
not very amiable. But Joseph was, at the same time, a 
" good man ; " that is to say, a kind man, a man of generous 
disposition, a rich man, so that if he met with a really de- 
serving case he would help that person. These are the two 
characteristics of the natural man in this case at least; it is 
these which make a man liked by his fellow-men, so that 
you find in the 5th of Eomans, " Scarcely for a righteous 
man would one die, yet peradventure for a good man some 
would even dare to die." Well, Joseph was all this, and 
yet not a Christian. A man in his natural state may be all 
that Joseph was, and yet be outside of the pale of salvation. 

But, while it says Joseph was just and good, it says 
more; the statement does not end there. If that were all, 
he might be compared to the young ruler pointing to his 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



15 



outward moral life for justification. If all rulers were good 
and just, like Joseph, we would have a different state of 
things. Even some who profess to be Christians could not 
honestly be called " good and just; " they don't pay their 
debts very well, or perhaps they are not just as kind and 
amiable as they might be. But let us go on and see what 
else characterized the man. He was a disciple — that is, a 
learner — a disciple of Christ. Here comes in a very inter- 
esting question: When and how did Joseph become a disci- 
ple of Christ ? This is not recorded directly, but there is a 
probability in what I'm going to mention. You recollect 
the council of the Jews met together in their own room; and 
they had an animated discussion as to what they were to do 
with this Man, whom the people were crowding to hear. 
And you remember they sent off their officers and men to 
apprehend Him And on the last day, the great day of the 
feast, just as these men were coming forward to seize Him, 
He lifted His voice and cried, " If any man thirst, let him 
come unto Me, and drink." These and other words the offi- 
cers heard; and they would look at each other, and with 
one consent they return to their rulers, who were sitting ex- 
pecting every time the door opened to see their Prisoner 
brought in. But, lo! the soldiers walk in without Him! 
" Have you not brought Him ? " would be the eager ques- 
tion. And then, amid the breathless silence, the officer would 
step forward and say, " Never man spake like this man." 
Nicodemus couldn't stand by and listen quietly any longer. 
Up he sprang, and said before all the council, " Does our law 
judge any man before it hears him ? " The amazement of his 
brother councilors you may imagine. But the matter ended; 
and they passed out one after the other; and I can well 
imagine how in passing out they would throw a glance of 
scorn at Nicodemus. And Joseph would likely be as much 



16 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



touched by what Nicodemus said as by what the Pharisees 
said. And as they were going out, Joseph would linger be- 
hind; and then he would step up softly to Nicodemus — 
" Nicodemus, you seem to know more about this Man than 
we do; tell me about Him." And then they would take a 
walk on the roof together, and talk about Him. Nicodemus 
would tell him about the time he went by night, when He 
said to him, " Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." And then Xicodemus would say, " I 
didn't know what to say, J oseph. I began to say something 
about how could a man be born again; and then He said it 
didn't mean that at all; and then all it once He hurried me 
away in spirit to the desert and said, ' Look at that crowd of 
bitten Israelites gazing at the serpent lifted up by Moses ; ' 
and then He said, ' Nicodemus, as Moses lifted up the ser- 
pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted 
up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but 
have eternal life! ' Oh, what a moment it was! I saw what 
He meant; I was brought to look upon Him as the serpent 
— the brazen serpent — that is to heal the world of sinners; 
and there, in His presence, I learnt what it was to be born 
again; I was in a new world. And then, Joseph, then He 
was not yet finished. As I sat with wonder and delight at 
His feet, He again looked at me and said, 'Nicodemus, God 
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life.' I never can forget those words ; they have 
been ringing through and through me ever since. Joseph, 
aren't they wonderful words?" 

Brethren, I can suppose it was somewhat in this way that 
Joseph was introduced to the knowledge of Christ through 
his fellow-councilor. At least I am perfectly sure that in 
substance that was what happened. Joseph learned what 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



17 



Nicodemns learned; and they often talked together of that 
wonderful Savior. Now, dear brethren, thus it is that a 
man comes to decide. Have you all been born again? 
There is a man that has plenty of knowledge — stores of 
Scriptm'al knowledge — and yet lying in his heart. His 
knowledge can't save him; " Ye must be born again." He 
needs the outpouring of God's Spirit upon him; the ferti- 
lizing flood of the Spirit which will bring life to the dry 
bones. Then let me ask you. Have you passed into this 
new world in reality ? Can you say that you have made a 
discovery that has changed everything about you ? When a 
man discovers the cross of Christ, he will be able to say that 
this world is crucified to him, and he to it. 

But, brethren, that was not all of Joseph. He became a 
disciple; and a disciple, you know, is a learner. If you 
become His child, you will learn of Him. Jesus says if you 
come to Him He will give you rest. This is the rest of justi- 
fication; we get it at once on coming to Him. But then 
He tells us there is more than that we can have if we learn 
more of Him. There is a deeper rest, a peace which He 
gives those who keep close to Him; and which only He can 
give. Joseph sought it by being a disciple, and so learn- 
ing of Christ. And, if you are like Joseph, I am sure of 
this, that God's Book will be your study, that you may be 
able to know more of Him. When J ehovah was instructing 
His servant Joshua concerning the conquest of Canaan, He 
told him he must meditate daily on His Word. And just 
so with US; we must ever be meditating on Christ and the 
work He has accomplished for us. 

And then it says further concerning Joseph that he was 
waiting for the kingdom of God. You remember we read 
of the aged prophetess Anna that she waited for the king- 
dom. Now, it implies at least this — waiting in the sense of 



18 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



intent earnest desire to extend it. The waiting of Script- 
ure spoken of in regard to the things of Heaven is never 
still folding of the hands. The Bible meaning of waiting 
is a tending upon, as the eyes of an handmaid wait on her 
mistress. Well, Joseph was waiting for the kingdom. He 
heard the King of that kingdom had come, and he wanted 
to know about Him and about His kingdom. And no doubt 
he would have learned in his waiting how a man enters into 
this kingdom by the way made by the King. Brethren, it 
was good for him as a councilor that his attention had been 
directed to all this; aud I think that it is very good for a 
man in any position, but especially for a public man, to 
have his attention directed to the coming of the kingdom. 
There is nothing that exercises a more deadening influence 
upon spiritual life than giving our worldly affairs, whatever 
they may be, the full swing — having our attention all taken 
up with the affairs of this life. But if a man has got his 
eyes fixed upon Jesus and His kingdom, then he will be 
wonderfully lifted up above the influence of such a tempta- 
tion. " Our conversation is in Heaven, from whence also 
we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His 
glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able 
even to subdue all things unto Himself." 

But, dear brethren, there is still another thing said about 
this good man we must not forget. " He went in boldly 
unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus." Now, in John 
we are told that he was a disciple secretly; but this should 
have been translated, not as an adverb, but as a participle. 
There is no fear or drawing back in a man sheltering from 
the storm. Understand the matter thus: Joseph did not 
consent to their counsel, when they decided to kill Him. 
They had met early that morning — it was not a regular prop- 



JOSEPH OF ARIMA.THEA. 



19 



erly called meeting — and Joseph had not agreed to their 
decision; he protested against it. Well, you know when 
Nicodemus, on a former occasion, said some words in favor 
of the Master, it brought a perfect storm upon him. And 
when we think what Joseph's words would have brought 
upon him, we surely see how he thought it wiser to keep 
quiet for a little, until the storm should blow over. But 
you may ask. Where was Nicodemus at this critical time? 
Well, I think that he was just prevented from attending by 
some duty he had to perform. You remember when the 
three men, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego, were thrown 
into the fiery furnace, Daniel was not there. Where was 
he ? Probably taking care of some of his provinces. And 
it was likely just something of the same with Nicodemus. 
I can well imagine when he was not there, and they noticed 
his absence, the high priest might say: " Well, you needn't 
mind about Nicodemus. We all know what he would say 
about this matter, so just let us pass him over." But they 
didn't know about Joseph's feelings and opinions; and so 
there would be a perfect storm of anger brought down upon 
him when he declared before them all, " I will not consent 
to this vile deed." Joseph knew what his Master was come 
for — to bear the sins of mankind — and he would do or dare 
anything for Him. And so, my friends, if we are to get 
courage to stand up for Christ in a dark hour, we must 
think what He has done for us, how He was led as a lamb 
to the slaughter, all for our sins. 

But let us pass on to see how that prophecy concerning 
the grave of Christ was to be fulfilled. He was to make His 
grave "with the wicked and with the rich in His death." 
Well, so far as I understand it, Joseph might have goae 
into the country out of the way, until, as we have seen, the 
fury of his fellow- councilors against him should have sub- 



20 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



sided. But lie can't go far; he feels so uneasy as to' what 
is happening to his beloved Master. He finds it utterly im- 
possible to endure the horrible suspense; and so he turns 
back. And as his steps draw near to the city, what does he 
see? A crowd of men and women and children surging 
round the mound at C alveary; and then a horrible thought 
strikes him. He pushes his way through the throng; and 
there he beholds his worst fears realized. He sees three 
crosses; and nailed to the one in the midst the form of Him 
whom he had learned to love so well. Oh, how Joseph's 
heart would be filled to overflowing! — his head bowed upon 
his breast in sorrow and anguish. But soon he stops in his 
grief to think if there is nothing he can do for his dear Mas- 
ter even yet; and then a thought strikes him. "Yes," he 
says, " I know what to do. I will go to Pilate, since I can 
do no more, and ask for the body; and I will bury my Mas- 
ter in my own tomb." So he finds his way to Pilate's house, 
and he seeks an interview. And here his well-known good 
character stands him in good stead, for the answer comes 
from Pilate at once — " Yes, let him come in, by all means." 
Then Joseph tells his errand. " Ah, is he dead already ? " 
" Yes," says Joseph. Well, Pilate would rather have the 
official testimony as well; so he calls upon the officers; and 
when he finds their report agrees with Joseph's, he was quite 
ready to grant him what he asked. And, moreover, there 
was no opposition to the funeral, for you must recollect that 
in eastern countries there is a great reverence for everything 
pertaining to the dead; and no one would think of interfer- 
ing with the funeral rites; just as, you remember, a little 
after this, devout men carried the body of Stephen out and 
buried it, even after he had been stoned to death. 

And then Nicodemus joins Joseph, and they two — two 
councilors, two rich men — they two bring with them spices 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



21 



and fine linen ; and they come to the cross. They don't care 
who is looking for them; nor how they are scorned. And in 
that hour the prophecy is fulfilled. There is not only one 
but two rich men at the cross. And see how reverently 
they lift up the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and wrap 
the linen around and pour the spices over Him. And they 
had a napkin, with which it was usual to cover the face of 
the dead because corruption set in so soon. But in this case 
they do not cover His face, but they wrap the napkin around 
it. Why was this ? Why not cover His face in the usual 
manner ? He was to see no corruption. And I suppose, 
too, that His face now shone with beauty. You know that 
often after death, there is a peculiar loveliness in the face of 
the dead; and the exaltation of Christ was now begun — all 
suffering was (wer. So they bound the napkin round His 
bleeding brow, and clothed Him in the fine linen, and then 
they bore Him off. What a funeral! Just two mourners 
— Joseph and Nicodemus — two rich men. Dr. Mason, of 
New York, was once at the funeral of a young man, and he 
thought the pall-bearers were going a little too fast; so he 
went forward, and, softly touching them, said, "Walk slowly; 
you are carrying a temple of the Holy Ghost." Now, breth- 
ren, if that could be said of a follower of Christ, what of 
the blessed Master himself ? 

And here were two men, full of love to the Lord of 
Glory; and they bury Him in a tomb as yet unknown; never 
man had been laid in it before. The ashes of the heifer, 
when sacrificed, must be carried to a clean place outside the 
city. And so the body of our Lord, the great sin-offering, 
must be laid in a new tomb outside the city. " Never man 
yet was laid in that sepulcher." And then they two rolled 
the stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed. That's 
all. Perhaps we are just a little disappointed that there is 



22 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



nothing more said in commendation of the act; but that*8 
God's way. John the Baptist was allowed to languish and 
die in prison; and so it is, in God's mysterious providence, 
with many another faithful servant. A lesson to us, not to 
make a noise about ourselves, or about what we do. Let us 
walk daily pleasing Him, and leave the rest with God. And 
just think, but for Joseph the prophecy would have failed; 
the prophecy that had been so clearly given forth in olden 
times. His tomb has come to be a proverb in our days. 
When we speak of " Joseph's empty tomb," it is just a sum- 
mary of all the Lord's work. 

And, my dear brethren, it is not all done yet. The Lord 
is coming back again; and I have no doubt He will confess 
Joseph before His Father, and all the holy angels. He is 
coming, and the crowning day is coming, too. He will sit 
on the throne of His glory. " And now," He says, " let the 
rewards be brought forward." And Joseph's name will be 
called ; and then Christ will say, " Father, this is the man 
who boldly confessed Me in the hour of darkness, when all 
seemed impenetrable gloom around My cross. This is the 
man who gave Me a place in his tomb. Bring forth the 
brightest crown for Joseph, who confessed Me before My 
enemies; who risked position, who risked wealth, who risked 
his life for Me. Bring forth the best crown and the bright- 
est robe for him ! " Ah, brethren, thus shall it be done for 
him whom our King delighteth to honor. 

This was one act; but remember, it was an act out of a 
life of faith. It was a spark out of a fire. Brethren, how 
are you living? Are you so living in the light of God's 
countenance that if God were some day to give you some 
special work to do for Him, you could do it ? You remem- 
ber the little Israelitish maid in the house of Naaman the 
Syrian. What great results came from a few words which 



JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 



23 



she said. But if she had not, by continued honesty and up- 
rightness, earned for herself a character in that house, she 
would not have been believed then. 

In Scotland there is a grave — a martyr's grave — up 
among the hills of Ayrshire. It is that of Roland Priest, 
who once had a little farm where the grave is now. It was 
one bright morning, just as he had finished family worship 
and was going out to his farm work, a troop of dragoons 
rode up — one of that band so notorious at that time for their 
fiendish cruelty — and, because the brave man would not deny 
his Master, he was shot dead. Well, what has been the re- 
sult? The persecutor's name has become a proverb and a 
by-word in Scotland, never mentioned but with hatred — Cla- 
verhouse. But the martyr is remembered with loving rev- 
erence; and on the little stone on his grave is written^ 
" Them that honor Me I will honor; but they that despise 
Me shall be lightly esteemed." 

One more remark and I end. Does any one present say, 
" I am so situated that it is exceedingly difficult for me to con- 
fess Christ, even in any way. I would risk so much to do it,, 
but I don't see how ? " Now, brethren, I don't think there 
is anything you could say which Joseph could not have said. 
Could any one have been in a more difficult situation to con- 
fess Christ than Joseph ? Who is it obtains the victory over 
the world ? Is it he who is in the midst of favorable cir- 
cumstances, surrounded by friends, and with nothing to draw 
him from the right path? No, certainly not necessarily. 
This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 
The more unfavorable our circumstances, the greater our joy 
and reward if we can stand up for our blessed Master here, 
until the day when we shall hear Him say, " Come, ye blessed 
of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
the foundation of the world." Amen. 



CHAPTER II. 



SIN. 

ADDKESSES BY DE. BONAR, MAJOR WHITTLE, MR. NEEDHAM AND 

MR. MOODY SIN AS GOD LOOKS AT IT THE DUTY OF 

BELIEVERS. 

Dr. Bonar said: Sin is a very important subject. 
There is something strangely terrible about it. In 2 Peter, 
ii, 4, we read: "God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into 
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." The 
number of angels who fell we need not inquire about. 
From various intimations we suppose there was a great 
number. What we should fix our thoughts on is this. The 
sin was 07ie sin, and God spared them not. What was that 
one sin? They "kept not their first estate;" they "left 
their own habitation." It was something like the sheep 
leaving the shepherd, or the place to which he had thought 
best to assign them. The idea seems to be that in pride of 
heart they were discontented with the position God had 
placed them in, and they left it. Like Adam taking the 
forbidden fruit, it was the simplest act possible, and we 
know what it entailed. The lesson for us is a very solemn 
one. How often we say, "Oh, this is only one sin." You 
trifle with one sin. Yet the lesson here is that one sin may 
bring eternal wretchedness — eternal wrath. Again, it was 
the first sin. Like Adam's taking the forbidden fruit, the 
moment they sinned their first sin, God spared them not. 

A man may be long in your confidence, but when you see 

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SIN. 



25 



him do one mean act, he is not to you what he was before. 
That act has revealed his character. Again, all this was 
after long and perfect obedience. Those angels, probably 
for centuries, possibly for ages, had served God in holiness 
and with a perfect heart — had been obedient to every com- 
mand. What a lesson! After all their obedience in love, 
their one sin, their first sin, was such in the sight of God 
that He swept them from His presence. Again, this sin 
tm-ned God's heart against them. Hitherto He had 
delighted in their service. Their magnificent anthems of 
praise had been gTateful to Him. He had rejoiced over 
them, as beings upon whom He could lavish tokens of His 
love. But the one sin came, and because of it God's heart 
was completely turned against them. They were obliter- 
ated from His affections. As it were. He tore them from 
His heai't. And it had another effect. It turned their 
heart against God. They had served Him loyally hitherto, 
but from that moment you see enmity to God boiling up 
from their souls. All this from that one sin, the first sin. 
Never trifie with one sin. It is like the little cloud, which, 
as a poet has said, may hold a hurricane in its grasp. The 
next sin you commit may have a mighty effect in the blight- 
ing of your life. You do not know the streams that may 
flow from that fountain; for sin is a fountain — not a mere 
act, but a fountain of evil. Then another thing, and the 
most dreadful in our view: Tremendous wrath overtook 
them. How is it described? God spared them not. These 
are the same words as are used concerning Christ: "God 
spared not His only begotten Son." He "spared not the 
angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell." Correctly 
this should be translated, "turned their faces hellward, and 
reserved them for chains of darkness." They were not to 
have those chains put on till Christ should come to bind 

B 



26 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Satan with all his followers. They were, however, imme- 
diately turned hellward. God saw it just and righteous to 
visit them with this wrath. Anything less would have been 
derogatory to His holiness. Anything less would have 
shaken the throne of His holiness. He must show His 
abhorrence of sin, and make the universe to know, and know 
forever, what sin is, and what sin deserves. Their after 
history, as seen in the book of Revelation, is this: At pres- 
ent they are allowed to go to and fro tempting men and 
deceiving the whole world. They are an awful troop — 
their malignity who can tell? Their aim is to hurt the 
saints of God especially, and prevent others coming into 
the bliss they lost. Now they are at large, but when Christ 
comes, they will be bound, and cast into the bottomless pit. 
Pit means prison. The bottomless pit is ' a measureless, 
fathomless prison of darkness. The lost spirits are to be 
thrust into this prison and bound in chains for a thousand 
years, then let loose mysteriously for a little, then flung into 
the lake of fire, and that is the last we hear of them. There 
is not the slightest intimation of future mercy for them — 
not one look of compassion shown toward them. There is 
something about sin on account of which the sinner de- 
serves to be eternally consumed with the wrath of God. 
What an abyss this is ! Oh, see the power of sin, the poison 
of sin! We are startled when we attempt to meditate on it. 
Now notice, that wherever we get a glimpse of these fallen 
spirits they never complain. Now and then in the Gospel 
history we find they crossed Christ's path. They always 
acknowledge who Christ is — "Thou Holy One of God" — 
but they never say, " Thou hast dealt too severely with us— - 
too remorselessly in regard to our sin.'' No; it is, "Thou 
Holy One of God, we cannot find fault with Thee." Christ 
never takes notice of any of their words. He said, "Come 



SIN. 



27 



out of the man." He shut their mouths. It was as if He 
said, "You have nothing to do with Me. You are eternally 
and irretrievably ruined.. I have not a word of mercy for 
you." James, the brother of Christ, and who had been much 
with Him, says: "The devils believe and tremble." The 
original word for tremble signifies extreme dismay — the hair 
standing on end. They believe in God, and their terror is 
overwhelming. All because they sinned that one sin. 

There are many applications of what we here ascertain. 
The one that bears upon our case is this, that God had mercy 
on our world when He did not give a look of pity toward 
the fallen angels. Why, no man can ever tell. There are 
many theories about it, but they come to absolute nothing. 
"So, Father, it seemed good in Thy sight." But it should 
suggest to us our amazing privilege and responsibility. A 
godly priest in the middle ages preached the Gospel to a 
listless audience. A dark-looking stranger came up to him 
after the service — so goes the legend — and said, "Come 
down to hel], and make us one such offer." But there is no 
such offer in hell. What will become of the sinner who 
does not accept the atoning blood! The Son was for our 
sakes put in the position of the angels whom " God spared 
not," and we are eternally free if we choose to be so. No 
doubt the spirits below cry, "Oh, that we could recall tha 
first spark that fired all that train of evil and wrath." Then 
beware of the next sin. It may cause your eternal ruim 
Men talk of the annihilation of the sinner — the same as to 
say that there is no punishment at all for the sinner. No, 
we are never annihilated. The sentence is: "Depart, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels." Certainly, if the sin of the angels deserves this, 
the sin of the sinner who despises the Savior can deserve 
nothing less. 



28 



GE\]s from; northfield. 



Major Whittle spoke of the power of sin. See, he said, 
the selfishness — self-will — it gives rise to. Man's exalting 
himself and refusing to submit to the will of God is the first 
step of all his sin. The power of sin can be seen in the 
conscious existence of this principle in each human heart, 
and in the record of its manifestations in every life that 
has ever been faithfully recorded — except in the life of 
Christ, and in the awful results apparent on the earth from 
this departure from God. Moral principles in the light of 
God's Word are very simple. There are no new discoveries 
in them. Submission to God's will brings blessing. Self- 
will brings misery and woe. We have just seen in consid- 
ering one awful manifestation of sin's power, the power of 
sin to stain. I would now call your attention to the power 
of sin to perpetuate and multiply itself. In Gen., iii, 18, 
thistles are part of earth's curse. One seed is the first crop, 
2,400 the second, 576,000,000 the third. See also Eom., v, 
12 and 19. Men may quarrel with this, but it stands there 
as a law of nature. See Gen., i, 11 — "Fruit after his 
kind." This is God's law. In Gen. i., 27, we have man 
created holy, had he remained so, there would have been 
"fruit after his kind." But man sinned; and so in Gen., 
v, 3, we have Adam begetting a son in his own likeness — 
not in God's likeness. Then see the power of sin in pro- 
ducing defiance of God, or sin shown in the individual. 
Cain is an example. He is the first-fruit of the flesh — the 
first child born into the world. It is not necessary to go 
through 576,000,000 of thistle-seeds in their growth and * 
development to know their nature. Watch and note care- 
fully the characteristics of one and you know what they all 
are — they are all alike in nature. So, see in Cain these 
attributes: Conceit, Gen., iv, 3; pride and jealousy, 4th 
verse; wrath, 5th verse; self-will, 7th verse; evil-speaking, 



SIN. 



29 



8tli verse; murder, Sth verse; the lie and the assault, 9tli verse; 
hardness and impenitence, 16th verse. What Cain was is a 
sample of what we all are in nature. Years ago I stood by 
the deathbed of a young man. I had known of his life of 
intemperance and licentiousness. He had ruined his health 
and become the father of a weak and puny child, that died, 
after a few months of wailing and pain night and day, 
never once smiling. His reply to the pleading that he 
should repent, was, "If God Almighty brought my little 
child in the world to suffer, and brought me in the world to 
suffer, He may send me to hell, if He wants to." His sin 
was plain to me, so I felt the injustice of what he said. 
My sins are just as plain to God. The trouble with us is, 
we do not look at sin from God's standpoint. We note this 
in what is said of the blinding power of sin (2 Cor., iv, 4), 
''The god of this world has blinded," etc.; (2 Peter, i, 90), 
"He that lacketh these things is blind;" (1 John, ii, 11), 
"Darkness hafch blinded his eyes." Cain was blinded to 
the awful character and fearful consequence of his sin. So 
Joseph's brethren; so Israel in worshiping the calf; so 
Achan in taking the garment; so Ahab in killing Naboth; 
so Judas in betraying his Master; so David. Now may God 
help us to understand more fully the testimony of His Word 
upon this subject, and keep us, in these days, when men are 
trying to make sin a trifle and hell a jest, in sympathy with 
Himself in His denunciations and judgments against sin. 
Surely we cannot expect His blessing if we depart from His 
testimony. Sin is in its nature selfish, hateful, mean, cruel 
and destructive. If God is to govern this universe. He 
must punish the impenitent sinner; and He has plainly 
declared His intention to do so. Let no theory or specula- 
tion as to annihilation or restoration turn us from these 
plain declarations, so simple that a child may read. Let 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



US value as never before the Atonement of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by which the way has been opened for our salvation. 
Let us urge our fellow-men with increased zeal and vehe- 
mence to repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that they may escape the wrath which is to 
come. Let us live in the power of the Spirit, that we may 
not, as believers, dishonor our God and Savior by sin. 
.> Mr. Needham spoke briefly, and likened sin to leprosy. 

One spot rendered the man entirely unclean in the eyes of 
the Levitical law, for it showed the state of the blood. So 
with one sin. 

Mr. Moody said there was nothing the world so wanted 
as holy men. The cause of Christ is paralyzed because of 
sin — sin in believers. The natural man will always take 
sides against God, when you press him close, and say, "God 
isn't going to punish sin. He wouldn't do this or that." 
But the new man ought always to justify God, and take 
sides with Him against sin. There ought to be that differ- 
ence between God's children and the children of the world; 
and when people say the punishment is severe and unjust, 
we should side with God and say: "Shall not the Judge 
of all the earth do right?" God will do right. Every one 
will say amen when it comes to the punishment of sin. 
And we should all condemn sin as God condemns it, the 
moment we see it. It is in ourselves, though sometimes it 
is hid from us. It may be some hidden sin that keeps God 
from using us more. Let as be honest with God and ask 
Him to search us and show us ourselves. Let David's 
prayer be ours: "Search me, O my God" — not my neigh- 
bors, not other people, but "Search me/" You see it 
becomes a personal thing. "And know my heart; try me, 
and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way 
in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." We can't 



SIN. 



31 



search ourselves, but we want the light of God to flash into 
our souls. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts." Thoughts! The world 
doesn't see them, but God sees them. Even those of us who 
have been in the Christian life for years don't know what 
is in us. "Search me, O God, and know my heart." Years 
ago, said Mr. Moody, I thought I knew my own heart, but 
there are depths in it I know nothing about. When I hear 
a man say he knows his own heart, I pity him. The best 
way is to get down on our faces before God, and honestly 
ask Him to show us ourselves and our need of a Savior. 



CHAPTER III. 

REDEMPTION. 

ADDRESSES BY DR. PENTECOST AND OTHERS REDEMPTION BY THE 

BLOOD OF CHRIST, AND SCRIPTURE TRUTH CONCERNING IT. 

Dr. Pentecost said: I am mucli interested in two words 
in Scripture — redemption and deliverance. There is a 
difference in their meanings. Eedemption purchased us; 
deliverance is divine power taking possession of us in spite 
of all opposition. "We find the two ideas coupled together. 
Now, let us bear in mind that it is a mistaken idea of re- 
demption that leaves out the body. We are purchased soul 
and body, and not only the spiritual part of us, but our 
bodies, now corruptible, in future incorruptible, are Christ's. 
Christ is the Savior of the whole man. 

Let us look at three things: 1. Jesus is the Redeemer. 
There is no power in man to extricate himself. The Son of 
God is the only Redeemer that had power in Himself to pay 
the ransom price. 2. His blood is the price of the redemp- 
tion. Christ did not bring all the vast wealth of His crea- 
iioa. We are the flock He redeemed " with His own blood." 
8. God is the author of redemption. The atonement price 
was not offered to the Devil. His power is an usurped power 
— he has no right to it. The Son of God offered Himself a 
sacrifice to God — to the justice of God, the holiness of God, 
to the principles involved in the moral government of God. 

Now, let me cite a few texts to show the vast range of 
the redemption: 

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REDEMPTION. 



33 



Gal., iii, 13. — Christ redeems as from the curse of law* 
There are penal consequences of sin, as well as moral conse- 
quences. Ephesians, i, 7. — " In whom we have redemp- 
tion through His blood, the forgiveness of sin." This is 
more than pardon. I maj pardon a man, and yet not have 
happy relations with him. I may refrain from vengeance, 
and yet retain in my heart a sense of the wrong done to me. 
" Forgiveness " is a sweeter word than " pardon," a richer 
word. In the New Testament the word " pardon " is not 
used; it is always " forgiveness." It has reference to the 
restoration of personal relations with God as well as the 
paying of the penalty. 1 Peter, i, 18. — We were not redeemed 
with " corruptible things as silver and gold," but by the 
" precious blood of Christ." And we were redeemed by this 
blood from the false traditions, false thoughts, false things 
of this world. A man who is sound oq the Atonement is 
almost always sound on every other question. When you 
see a man unsound on the Atonement, you may expect him 
to be just brimful of errors on every other subject. Acts, 
xxvi, 17, 18. — W(3 are redeemed from the power of Satan. 
Gal., i, 4. — We are delivered from " this present evil world." 
Men would not be so much tempted if they could see Satan, 
so he hides behind the world. This " present evil world " we 
need to be delivered from; the new world will not be evil. 
2 Pet., ii, 9. — We are delivered " out of temptations." 2 Cor., 
i, 9, 10. — We are delivered from the fear of death. We 
rise superior to death. Rev., v, 9. — We are redeemed to God. 
It is a great thing to be redeemed from sin; from Satan; from 
this present evil world; from death; but suppose redem pt io 
just stopped there? " Now you are out of your difficulties; 
make the best of it." Suppose, after taking Israel out of 
Egypt, God had left them in the Wilderness. No ; He has re- 
deemed us to Himself, to sweet and blessed relations with Him, 



34 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



to Heaven, to the companionsliip of high and holy intelli- 
gences, to the nearest place in His heart, to dominion with 
Him over all the universe. There is where we lose communion. 
We realize what we are redeemed and delivered /rom, but we 
do not apprehend what we are redeemed and delivered to. If 
we did, we would not be troubled with that backward look 
upon what we are leaving that keeps us in bondage. We 
would seek the things which are above. 

Dr. Bonar added a few words. He had been struck with 
the language of Dr. Jonathan Edwards in his reflections 
upon sin, who said that he frequently had such views of his 
own vileness that he was held in a kind of loud weeping, 
sometimes lasting for a considerable time. It was this real- 
ization of the abyss of wickedness in his own heart that made 
Edwards the power he was. When we get a true view of the 
enormity of sin, we can better understand redemption. We 
find types of redemption in the Old Testament. In Isaiah, 
li, 10, we read: "Art thou not it (the arm of the Lord) 
which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that 
hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to 
pass over ? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, 
and come with singing unto Zion." In Exodus, xxx, 12, and 
xxxviii, 26, we read of the ransom — half a shekel — for every 
man. This is the " corruptible gold and silver " referred to 
by the Apostle Peter, with which he says we are not re- 
deemed, but by " the precious blood of Christ." One thing 
more : Let us remember that God did not redeem us because 
of anything in us. We deserved eternal ruin. The reason 
of redemption God found, not in us, but in Himself. Noth- 
ing so sets forth the righteousness of God as the redemp- 
tion by Christ. It magnifies His holiness. And the sinner 
who accepts the redemption is sent forth to proclaim every- 
where the righteousness of God. 



REDEMPTION. 



35 



Mr. Needham said that redemption is the science and 
song of eternity. Shall we sing that song ? Are we students 
of that scienoe ? Let us view ourselves as blood-washed sin- 
ners, and it will subdue our lives, and send us forth with 
new unction to preach the power of the blood of Christ to 
save a lost world. 

Mr. Morgan, of London, said that his little boy, since 
taken to Heaven, once asked him — " Papa, how is it that one 
person, Christ, could atone for the sins of millions of men ?" 
They were in a garden at the time. Said he to the boy: 
" Suppose that there was on the ground there a handful of 
worms; don't you think you would be more valuable than 
those worms? " " Yes." " Suppose that that wheelbarrow 
was full of worms; would you not be more valuable than 
them all?" "Yes." "Suppose that all the millions of 
worms in the earth were gathered together, would you 
not still be more valuable than they, no matter how 
many?" "Yes; I am sure I would." "Then is there 
not a far greater difference in the scale of being between 
Christ and man than between man and the worm ? We are 
creatures. God is the Creator. Had many other worlds 
sinned as well as ours, the blood of Christ would be more 
than sufficient to atone for them." He had given the fol- 
lowing headings to chapters in Exodus: 12th, Redemption; 
13th, Sanctification — Consecration; 14th, Deliverance; 15th, 
Triumph; 16th, Wilderness Food; 17th, Smitten Rock; 18th, 
Joy. All these other things rest upon redemption as their 
foundation. Notice in the 12th chapter that the Israelites 
sprinkled the blood, but they ate the lamb. Let us feed on 
Christ. 



CHAPTER ly. 



REPENTJ.NCE. 

ADDRESSES BY DE. BONAR AND MR. MOODY TWO MEANINGS OF THE 

WORD ITS APPLICATION TO SINNERS AND SAINTS WHAT RE- 
PENTANCE IS NOT. 

Dr. Bonar said: Many of us thiiLk that the word " re 
pentance " is not a pleasant word, but, if we study it care 
fully, we will get a different view of it. It is a very sacred 
word, that word "repent." The forerunner of Christ made 
it the text of his first sermon. The Master himself, when 
He began His ministry, as we see in Matt., iv, " began to 
preach, and to say 'Repent! ' " Have you noticed how often 
He uses this word ? "I am not come to call the righteous, but 
sinners to repentance." Sodom and Gomorrah, he says, 
would have repented in sack- cloth and ashes. " Except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise perish." When He sent forth 
His disciples, they were to preach " Repent ! " It is a very 
pleasant word in Heaven. There is " joy in Heaven over 
one sinner that repenteth." Grimshaw Howard, a cotem- 
porary of "Whitefield, had a s(^n who used to say when on his 
father's pony : " Yesterday you carried a saint, to-day a sin- 
ner." After his father's death, he was converted, and his 
first thought was : " What will father say when the news 
comes up to him in Heaven ? " 

Now, in Scripture we see that the Lord repents. See 

Exodus, xxxii, 14 : " And the Lord, repented of the evil which 

(36) 



REPENTANCE. 



37 



He thought to do unto His people." And Jonah, iii, 10: 
" God saw their works, that they turned fi-om their evil 
way; and God repented of the evil that He had said He 
would do unto them; and He did it not." In these pas- 
sages. His repentance means change of purpose. But He has 
another kind of repentance- — deep sorrow. See Genesis, vi, 
6 : " And it repented the Lord that He had made man on 
the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." And Judges? 
ii, 18 : " He delivered them out of the hands of their ene- 
mies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord 
because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed 
them and vexed them." In like manner there are two mean- 
ings to the word " repentance " when applied to sinners and 
to saints. In the case of the sinner it means a change of 
life purpose — a complete turning around, and change in the 
plan of life. This is what is demanded of the sinner when 
he comes to God for the first time. He changes his position 
toward God, and he sees God in His holiness. The light of 
God flashes into his soul; he sees Christ as the Intercessor 
and appropriates the atoniag blood. This is beautifully 
brought out in Wisdom's call — Wisdom representing Christ 
— "Turn, and I will pour out My Spirit upon you; I will 
make kno-\vn My word unto you." The sinner does not need 
a single qualification or recommendation. He is just to 
turn to God without presenting any merit of his own and be 
accepted through the merits of Christ. There is, however, 
far more involved in the word repentance than change of 
purpose when applied to saints. Here it is that the sorrow 
comes in. We are not told that the prodigal had sorrow. 
No doubt there was something of the kind in the case, but 
that was not made a prominent feature in it. In the case 
of saints, there is both sorrow — godly sorrow — and turning. 
In 2Cor., vii, 10, Paul says: " Godly sorrow worketh repent- 



38 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



ance to salvation not to be repented of." "To salvation" 
here means " of a saving kind." It is sorrow with a sancti- 
fying effect. You have had godly sorrow. What careful- 
ness it wrought in you to keep your skirts clear of sin — yea, 
what indignation at the sin which had deceived you — what 
fear lest you backslide again! It is a good thing to have 
this kind of fear. What vehement desire it incites to live 
closer to God — what zeal it inspires against sin! A man 
giving up drink said: "I will be revenged on it; I will never 
touch it again." 

Dear friends, if you do not indulge in godly sorrow, is it 
not likely you are losing a good deal of sanctification ? 
Have we nothing to repent of? No wasted hours? How 
little we have done for God! Ah, that we had prayed more! 
If we had prayed more we need not have worked so hard. 
Certainly, we have too little praying face to face with God 
every day. Looking back at the end I suspect there will be 
great grief for our sins of omission — omission to get from 
God what we might have got by praying. A man walking 
near a precipice and arrested by a warning voice might have 
four ways of telling it: " If it had not been for the man who 
cried ' Stop,' I should have been dead." " If it had not been 
for that word ' stop.' " " If I had not turned around." But 
in his more solemn moments, he would say: " If God in His 
providence had not sent that message to me by that voice, 
I should have been dead." So with the sinner. Telling his 
friends of his conversion, he may at one time say: " If it had 
not been for that sermon, I would have been a sinner still." 
Another time: "If it had not been for that person." An- 
other time: "If I had not turned." But, when he looks 
solemnly into the whole case, he says: "Unless He who is 
exalted a Prince and a Savior had called me, and the Holy 
Spirit had brought home the Word, I should have been a 



REPENTANCE. 



39 



lost sinner still." Let us cease giving credit to ourselves, 
and depending on ourselves. 

Mr. Moody said he wanted to emphasize what repentance 
is hot It is not fear. There may be a great deal of fear, 
and no repentance at all. Sailors in a storm at sea are all 
at once very good saints, but the moment the storm is over, 
they are the same blaspheming set again. Then it is not 
feeling. Men may have feeling when they repent, or they 
may not. When a thief is caught, he feels bad because he 
got caught, but that isn't repentance. Whether you have 
feeling or not, repent, and the feeling will come afterward. 
Then repentance isn't remorse. Judas had remorse and 
went away and committed suicide. If he had repented, no 
doubt he would have been forgiven. Then it is not con- 
viction. Many a person is convicted of sin for years. In a 
train at the station here, a man may want to go to Boston. 
I tell him he is in the train for Vermont. He may believe 
me, but he has got to do something. He must pick up hia 
valise and go into the other train. Repentance is turning 
right-about-face. Again, it is not fasting, nor praying, nor 
lopping off particular sins. If I have a vessel full of holes, 
and stop only part of them, the vessel will still sink We 
must break off from all sin, and turn unto God. 

The Eev. Dr. Rufus Clarke, of Albany, in reply to Mr. 
Moody, said repentance could take place in a moment, and 
cited several Scriptural instances of this. God commandeth. 
all men everywhere now to repent. 



I 



CHAPTER V. 



THE BELIEVER'S STANDINa. 

ADDEESS BY DR. BONAR WHAT OUR STANDING IS THE BOUNDLESS 

LOVE or GOD TOWARD US. 

Dr. Bonar said: In Romans, v, 2, we learn what the 
believer's standing is: " By Whom (Christ) we have access 
by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in 
hope of the glory of God." In the preceding verse, the 
words " therefore being justified " show how we have this 
access. Hence, all who are in the justified state " have 
access by faith into the grace wherein we stand." Now, 
grace is equivalent to favor. In the Old Testament we read 
that " Noah found grace (that is, favor) in the eyes of the 
Lord." Ruth found favor with Boaz; Esther with Ahasue- 
rus. In Acts, vii, 46, we read that David " found favor 
before God." Grace may be defined as free, undeserved 
favor. 

It is profitable to try to gain some idea of the boundless 
love of God. God cannot love with a half heart. With His 
whole heart He goes out to us. If we really believed that 
God loved us with His whole heart, what a help it would be 
to us in our daily lives ! We would then feel that we could 
go at any moment into the presence of a loving Father, who 
cared as much for us as if He had nothing else to care for. 
A child may come into the presence of its earthly father at any 

moment, except when the parent is occupied. Our Heaven- 

(40) ^ . 



THE BELIEVER'S STANDING. 



41 



ly Father is never so occupied. At all times he will bestow 
on us the same attention. A child likes to play in the pres- 
ence of its earthly parents, even though they take no notice 
of it, and is happy simply because it is with them. How 
much more ought we to be joyous in our Heavenly Father's 
presence. We need not be always singing. The heai't has 
a silent language. There is too little of adoration — simple 
worship — at the present time. But, though we may not be 
always directly ia communion, we should, like the child, 
love — as we have the right — to remain in the presence of 



It may be added, our presence with God is spoken of, 
not only as standing, but also as sitting with Him. And 
here is a precious thought. We have a seat at the King's 
table, and that seat is kept waiting for us. Sometimes God 
longs to see that seat filled, and so He removes His child 
from this world to a better. We wonder why such and such 
good Christians are taken fi'om among us ; but God was weary 
without them. We shall be led up to the seats that are 
waiting for us, and crowns of glory will be placed on our 
heads, but we shall find them too heavy for us, and we 
shall cast them at the feet of Jesus. 



God. 




c 



CHAPTER YI. 



INIQUITIES FORGOTTEN. 

EEMARKS BY DR. BONAR, DR. PENTECOST AND MR. MOODY GOD's 

DELIGHT IN PRAISING HIS SAINTS THEIR SINS NOT ONLY FOR- 
GIVEN BUT FORGOTTEN. 

Dr. Bonar said, one evening, that he had been much 
interested in the fact that, whatever may have been the 
faults of the Old Testament characters, no mention is made 
of them in the New Testament. There they are always 
referred to as saints without blemish. It seems that God 
delights to praise His saints. He keeps His promise that 
He will not only forgive but forget their iniquities, and He 
remembers only their good qualities. Is there not a lesson 
in that for us ? The more we become like Christ, the more 
we will delight to speak of our brethren. I had a neighbor 
in the ministry who for years had been very censorious — 
always pointing to the faults of other believers. He got a 
wonderful blessing on some occasion, and ever after that the 
tenderness of that man in speaking of his brethren could be 
noticed. Sometimes he would remark upon some brother's 
oddities, but he would check himself, and immediately add: 
" Now, I cannot let you away till I have told you about 
that brother a little good thing; " and then he would come 
out with some incident that was to the absent brother's credit, 
and left a pleasant impression. I think that was the spirit 
of the Master in pointing to the excellency of His believing 
people and hiding all their faults. 



INIQUITIES FORGOTTEN. 



43 



Dr. Pentecost said that he remembered an infidel saying 
to him: " In the 11th chapter of Hebrews we see the Old 
Testament characters spoken of as saints of the very first 
order. Now, from what we read about them in the Old Tes- 
tament, they must have been a nice lot of saints. Is that 
all that your religion can do? " He told the objector that 
he was going a little too fast; that the 11th chapter came 
after the 10th, and that to understand the 11th he must read 
the 10th. In that chapter God said: " Their sins and their 
iniquities I will remember no more." Well, after He had 
said that. He could not say anything about their sins, for He 
had forgotten them. 

Mr. Moody said that it was necessary, however, to bear 
in mind that, although God forgave the sins of J acob and 
David, and the other Old Testament saints, yet there were 
certain consequences of those sins which those saints had to 
suffer after they were forgiven. If a man gets drunk, and 
goes out and breaks his leg, so that it must be amputated, 
God will forgive him if he asks it, but he will have to hop 
around on one leg all his life. A man may sow thistle-seed 
with grain- seed in a moment of pique against his master, 
and the master may forgive him, but the man will have to 
reap the thistles with the grain. This should be kept in 
view in meeting certain classes of cavilers. 



CHAPTER VII. 



OUR GREAT HiaS PRIEST. 

ADDRESS BY MK. R. C. MORGAN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND IMPORTANCE 

OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST IN HEAVEN 

WHY BELIEVERS SHOULD NOT LOSE SIGHT OF IT. 

One might suppose that saints would hardly need to be 
counseled not to let the glorious revelations of the Gospel 
slip. But the exhortations to the Hebrews grow out of the 
fact that they were being diverted from them, and therefore 
it is written, " We ought to give the more earnest heed to 
the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should 
let them slip." Throughout the Epistle we have again and 
again these words, " Hold fast." 

The priesthood of Christ is intimately associated with 
the " rest " spoken of in the 3d and 4th chapters. The 
brethren are exhorted to " consider the Apostle and High 
Priest of oiu* profession, Christ Jesus." Then they are ex- 
horted to enter into rest, to " fear, lest, a promise being left 
of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come 
short of it." A word about that rest. What is it? It is 
God's rest — the rest of the Creator in His perfect creation 
work. God created all things in six days, and He rested 
on the seventh day and called it the Sabbath day. With 
regard to Christ, it is the rest of the Redeemer in His fin- 
ished redemption work. And so we read. Chapter iv, 10, 
" For He [Christ — it is very important to observe that it is 

Christ who is here spoken of] that is entered into his rest. 

(44) 



OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST. 



45 



He also hath ceased from His own works, as God did from 
His." There was the rest of God the Creator in His com- 
pleted work; there is the rest of God the Redeemer in His 
finished redemption work. And now God invites us into 
His rest. All things were made and finished in six days, 
and Adam rested with God on the seventh day. It was not 
that Adam had done anything; God had done the work, and 
God had provided the rest. The redemption work is Christ's 
finished work, and we are invited to rest in it; so, on our 
side, it is the rest of the creature in the work of the Creator, 
and the rest of the redeemed in the work of the Redeemer. 

Verse 11, " Let us labor [or earnestly endeavor], there- 
fore, to enter into that rest." Let it be the earnest endeavor 
of our souls to enter into that rest. 

I understand by that rest, not the present rest of faith 
alone, not the future rest in Heaven alone, but God^s rest. 
He rests now, and will rest forever, and we come into the 
rest of God, which is present rest, running on to eternity. 
Just in the same way as we say we have eternal life to-day, 
if we are united by faith to the Son of God, and the eternal 
life goes on eternally. So that I do not think we are to 
limit this rest to the present rest of faith in this world, nor 
to the rest which lies beyond in Heaven. Christ said, " It 
is finished; into Thy hands I commend My spirit; " and 
God ratified the deed of gift when He " raised Christ from 
the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly 
places." Into that rest He invites us. 

" Let us labor, therefore,'"' etc. These conjunctions are 
like the hooks of curtains, linking together these thoughts 
of the Holy Ghost; they are of great importance. The 
" therefore " here refers to the past; they failed — do not let us 
fail. And the word "for" in the 12th verse links what fol- 
lows on to that 11th verse, " For the Word of God is quick,'* 



46 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



etc. This, it appears to me, gives the reason why it is need- 
ful that we should earnestly endeavor to enter into that rest. 
It will not be entered into without earnest endeavor. Why 
not ? Because " the Word of God is living, and powerful, 
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the 
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and 
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 
the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not mani- 
fest in His sight; but all things are naked and opened unto 
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Here, then, is 
the problem —how we, with a heart by nature prone to evil, 
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, can be 
at rest under the piercing eyes of God. How, with the Word 
of the living God searching us out, and piercing to the 
dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and 
marrow — how can we be at rest ? You and I have tried to 
rest; we have got some sense of joy, and we have said, 
" Now I have the rest." We went to bed perhaps peaceful 
and joyous, and we woke up with our joy diminished, and as 
time wore away it all departed. Why ? Because that was 
not the rest. We have tried to rest in our own righteousness, 
or communion, or anything at all of our own, and we have 
been bitterly disappointed to find it all vanished like the 
mist. I do not doubt that I speak the experience of every 
believer when I say that we have passed through some expe- 
rience like this. We have rested in our own works, and this 
living Word of God has come and pierced down to the 
motive of this deed, and that line of action, and it has laid 
bare some secret blemish, and our rest was gone. 

" Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in 
His sight." We may deceive ourselves and one another, 
but we cannot deceive God. His eyes, like a flame of 
fire, detect the taint of sinful motive; we know that they 



OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST. 



47 



detect, and we cannot rest with that detection unconfessed. 
The Word of God is always finding us out, searching down 
to the depths, and showing us some sin or infirmity in the 
motive of it all. 

" All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him 
with Whom we have to do." When the priests in Israel 
took the lamb for the burnt offering, first of all they flayed 
it; there was the naked flesh of the creature. Then they 
cut it open and laid it bare within. So all things are naked 
and opened to the eyes of God. How am I, a sinner, to rest 
beneath His eyes? That is the problem. Is there a solution 
of it? A saint is still a sinful being,- how shall he enter 
into the rest of God? Those who fell in the Wilderness 
failed to enter into that rest. Nor was the land of Canaan 
the rest of God. " That rest " is entered only by believing 
God. So the promise comes down to the Gospel day. It 
remains to us — a promise is left us of entering into His rest. 
There is is a rest, although I am what I am. How am I to 
rest ? " Seeing, then, that we have a great high priest who 
has passed through the lieavens " — (Paul went up into the 
third Heaven, but J esus has passed through all the Heavens 
to the throne of God) — " J esus the Son of God, let us hold 
fast our profession." Why does He exhort us thus? Be- 
cause we have said, "We shall have to give it up." Some 
one, perhaps, has said of this rest of faith, this rest of God, 
" I have tried so much and often, and have not got it; I must 
give it up." " No," says the Comforter, " don't give it up." 
" Let us hold fast our confession." Why ? Because we have 
a great high priest who has passed through the Heavens. 
Why ? " For we have not an high priest who cannot be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities." That is a 
great deal more forcible than if he had said, " We have an 
high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our 



48 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



infirmities." It is as much as to say that if we have an high 
priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirm- 
ities, it is no use to have a priest at all. But we have not 
such an high priest; therefore, if you say, " I must give it 
up " because His Word searches you through and through, 
and you lie naked and exposed before the burning eyes of 
Him who sitteth upon the throne, He says, " Don't give it 
up. There does remain a rest; but it is not in yourself, but 
in God." 

Here is a little child: her mother sets her a task to do. 
The child, looking at the pattern before her and at her own 
work, and perceiving how unlike they are, says, " I must 
give it up, I never can imitate that," and she lays it down 
and cries. But the mother is looking on; she comes and 
puts her arm round her darling's neck; she wipes away her 
tears and encourages her. So the child goes on again, now 
at rest — not in her poor imitation of that perfect work, but 
trusting in the mother's love, and laying her head on the 
mother's breast, she rests. And so we rest, not in the holiest 
frame we ever experienced, not in the most upright thing we 
ever thought or said or did, but in Jesus, laying our heads 
upon His bosom, and rejoicing that He is able to sympathize 
with us, " who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet 
without sin." When we see the sinfulness in our own best 
things, we say, " But He has been in all points tempted, like 
as we are, without sin. He never swerved from the path of 
righteousness, and it is in Him we stand." God sees me, 
not as I am in my poor failing self, but as I am in His be- 
loved Son. 

When He hung upon the cross, He was as pure as the 
Holy One upon the great white throne. I stand in Him — 
accepted and acceptable in Him. And the Apostle says to 
the Hebrews, " Do not let these things slip." " Let us come 



OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST. 



49 



boldly [with confidence] to the throne of grace " — that means 
telling it all out; don't keep anything back — " that we may 
obtain compassion and find grace to help in time of need." 

In all false religions a great deal is made of the priest. 
Ritualism, Popery, Mohammedanism, Heathenism — che 
priest is prominent in them all. But among Evangelical 
Christians it seems that if there be one thing about which they 
know less than another of the offices of Christ, it is about His 
priesthood. And yet it is in the ejcercise of this very office 
that he is occupied in the interval between his resurrection 
and his return. He is Prophet, Priest and King. But His 
prophetic office was exercised in the days of his flesh, and 
fulfilled when He sealed His witness with His blood. As 
King, He is already anointed, but His reign has not began; 
the time has not yet arrived when He shall take His gTeat 
power and reign, and the kingdoms of this world become the 
Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. But the office of 
Priest is that which He is exercising now, and how few 
among Evangelical Christians know almost anything about 
it! Yet men's hearts want a priest, and that is the reason 
why Ritualism and Popery succeed; they supply a priest. 
The human heart, in its endeavor to stand right with God, 
instinctively wants a priest; so Satan brings them a merely 
human, and therefore of necessity a false, priest. 

There is no more pernicious and deadly sham than a man 
who pretends to be a^priest on earth, except in the sense in 
which every believer is a priest. For He who exercises 
priesthood between men and God must have been tempted in 
all points like as we are, without sin; He must have died 
and risen from the dead; and He must be first of all King 
of righteousness, and after that also King of peace; for the 
day on which God said to Jesus, " Thou art a Priest forever 
after the order of Melchisedec," was the day on which He 



50 



GEMS FROM NOKTHFIELD. 



said, " Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee " 
from the dead. (Cy. Psa. ii, 7; Acts, xiii, 33; Heb., v, 5, 6.) 

Now, do you want a priest? The Hebrews did not feel 
their need of a priest, and so when the Apostle comes to 
speak of Melchisedec, he stops and says — " Of whom we 
have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye 
are dull of hearing." If you have tried to talk to somebody 
who has no ears to hear, how hard it was; you could not 
talk. So Paul says, " These things are hard to be uttered " 
—not because there was any difficulty in him, but because 
they were dull of hearing. Why were they so ? Chapter 
V, 12 — " Ye have need that one teach you again which be 
the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become 
such as have need of milk, and not of solid food." Pap is 
for children, but when we grow up we want another kind of 
food. " Solid food belongeth to them that are of full age, 
even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised 
to discern between good and evil." 

The reason why Evangelical Christians are so little in- 
structed about Christ as the Priest, is that we are content 
with babes' food. We have not been exercised by this word 
" righteousness." Is that it? It was so with the Hebrews. 
Is it so now ? " Every one that useth milk is unskillful in 
the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." Is it the fact 
that Christians are content with the forgiveness of sins, and 
do not care to take another step ? "I write unto you little 
children," says John, "because your sins are forgiven you." 
Are we content to remain little children, without going on 
to do the young men's battle with the wicked one ? "I write 
unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and have over- 
come the wicked one." Let any one begin to be exercised 
by the word of righteousness — be laid hold of by that word 
of the Holy Ghost, by the Apostle John, which says — " My 



OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST. 



51 



little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth right- 
eousness is righteous, even as He is righteous " — let a soul 
get apprehended by that word, that to be righteous he must 
do righteousness, that it is not enough to be always talking 
of justification by faith, and let that cover a loose walk — let 
a soul be exercised by that, and he wants a priest directly. 
Is not that the way that hundreds have gone to Ritualism 
and Popery, and, because of the aching heart that wanted 
some ear in which to tell its failures, its sorrows, its desires 
after righteousness, they have caught the straw on the sur- 
face because there was no plank given them really to lay 
hold of ? Is it so that Evangelical preaching has left out 
this truth of the priesthood of Jesus the Son of God, because 
it would not leave the first principles of the doctrine of 
Christ, and go on to the perfection of it? (Heb., vi, 1.) 

Many souls are being exercised about holiness, but not 
equally about righteousness. Holiness is the hidden thing 
we cannot see; righteousness is the manifestation of holi- 
ness in act and life. It does appear to me that a great, if 
not the greateat, mistake with regard to the testimony in 
this day, concerning holiness and righteousness, has been 
the oversight, the forgetting, I would almost say the ignor- 
ing, of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. A saint can no more 
walk in the light, as God is in the light, without the advo- 
cacy of the High Priest, who by His own blood entered 
once into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of 
God for us, than a sinner can be justified apart from the 
shedding of the blood, without which there is no remission. 
In these days — in all days — there are two things which we 
must uphold and hold fast — the sacrifice of Christ upon the 
cross, and the priesthood of Christ in Heaven. Call it vul- 
gar it you please. Say it is a vulgar thing to cry " Blood, 
blood." Call us ignorant and unrefined. But by the grace 



52 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



of God, if we know very little else, we do know what we 
mean when we say, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son 
cleanseth us from all sin; " and we insist, on the authority 
of the Spirit of truth, that " it is the blood that maketh an 
atonement for the soul." Test it in the inquiry room. Send 
the refined people, who think it vulgar to speak about the 
blood, to deal with the aching heart of a sinner convinced 
of sin, and see if anything else but the blood of Christ will 
set that soul at liberty. Or go again into the inquiry room, 
where Christians are anxiously seeking closer fellowship with 
God; let those who attempt to direct them disregard the 
priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is all failure 
still. The priesthood of Jesus the Son of God — of Him who 
is in one person both Man and God — is as needful for the 
conscience of the saint seeking to walk in holiness and right- 
eousness, as is the blood of Christ for the conscience of the 
convinced sinner. May God open to our souls these precious 
truths, which, always needful, were never needed more than 
now, and give us to go forth, strong in the Lord, and in the 
power of His might — to be, to do, or to suffer, as our noble 
fathers did, who loved not their lives, even unto death. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



PRAISE. 

REMARKS BY MESSRS. MOODY AND SANKEY LACK OF THANKSGIVING 

A BAR TO FURTHER BLESSINGS. 

At an evening praise meeting, Mr. Moody said: We 
don't thank and praise God half enough. That is one 
reason why so many of our churches are so dull and gloomy. 
When churches get into a backslidden state, they hire sing- 
ers to stand away up in some organ loft and praise God for 
them. How can we expect God to give us further blessings 
if we don't thank Him for what He has given us? There 
ought to be more of thanksgiving in our prayers, and there 
ought to be more of thanksgiving from the heart in our sing- 
ing. One of the best ways to wake a church up and start 
a revival is to hold a praise meeting. 

Mr. Sankey said that a little incident that had occurred in 
his home in Brooklyn last Christmas, while he was in San 
Francisco, was fraught with a lesson to him and all Chris- 
tian believers. His little boy awoke about 4 o'clock in the 
morning, and got up to see what was in his stocking. He 
found a box of paints and a little book. Said he, " Santa 
Claus knew just what I wanted," and went off contentedly 
to sleep. When he arose at the usual time he was shown 
in a lower room a whole tree full of presents for him. He 
was satisfied with the trifles which he thought were all he was 
to get, and what was the joy of the mother to lead him into 
the place where greater things were prepared for him. When 
Christians are grateful for what they have already received, 
the Lord delights to give them far greater blessings. 



CHAPTER IX. 



COMMUNION. 

ADDRESS BY DR. BONAR MOSES IN THE MOUNT RESULTS OF COM- 
MUNION TENDERNESS OE GOD's HONOR, JOY, HUMILITY HOW 

MUCH DO WE GET ? 

Dr. Bonar read thfi 24tli chapter of Exodus, which nar- 
rates the second visit of Moses up the mount. He then 
said: Communion with God is the privilege of His chil- 
dren. It is denied to sinners. Their relationship to God is 
such that there can be no communion between them. But 
this communion is the vital air of the Christian. 

When Moses went up the mount, he walked into the tent 
of glory, and into the presence of the Holy One. Would 
his host let him come in without welcome? Oh, the ineffa- 
ble delight of the smile which God w^ould give him! What 
was the nature of the communion ? It is not to be supposed 
that the visit would go on in silence. There was conversa- 
tion. Then what would Moses talk with God about? He 
would more likely want to talk with Him about the revela- 
tion of His grace — how God could forgive sins and yet by 
no means clear the guilty. How might God answer him? 
By just pointing to the blood on Moses' shoulder — for the 
blood of the covenant had just been sprinkled. Then God 
showed him the pattern of the tabernacle. The two visits 
of Moses up the mount were different, yet they ended the 
same way. Moses brought down the same law. The first 

tables of stone he had broken, but God renewed them exactly 

(54) 



COMMUNION. 



55 



the same. God never alters His law. It is as impossible 
to alter God's law as to alter His throne. You cannot 
get above the law. Then get deeper and deeper in sympa- 
thy with it; because that law is the mind of God. 

One result of communion with God is to make us tender 
of all that respects God's honor. Moses forgot himself. 
He had no room for thought of self; hence God was able to 
clothe him with a halo of glory. An earthly king likes to 
clothe his servants in fine robes; and God is pleased when 
we enable Him to bless us. 

Another result of communion is joy. There is no joy 
like the joy of communion. Living apart fi'om God is mis- 
ery. Look at Gethsemane. See the Savior's face — how 
sad with sorrow because of the Father's wrath. On the 
Mount of Transfiguration the Father said: "This is My 
well-beloved Son," and the person of Christ glistened with 
glory. But how different when the face of the Father was 
withdrawn. Separation from the Father caused at Geth- 
semane the darkest hour. Communion with God has the 
effect to make us joyous. The Lord does not like to see any 
of His disciples looking sad. If you cannot do anything 
else for the Master, then shine for Him. Some people you 
cannot drive from you any other way. There are those who 
seek to entice you to follow the world with them. They 
cannot be induced to see Christ as you do. Let your face 
shine with the brightness that comes from communion with 
God, and they will not trouble you. Christians can some- 
times do more by shining for God than by speaking for 
Him. A Scotch engineer at Bombay took lodgings in the 
Jewish quarter. He did not understand a syllable of 
Hebrew, and could not converse with the Jews; but he 
showed them kindness, and let them see that he was a 
happy man. After awhile he died. Some years after, in 



56 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



Bagdad, a missionary was called upon by a Jew who said 
he wanted to know more about Christ. He told about this 
Scotch engineer at Bombay — how happy he always seemed 
— how, even amid trials and suffering, his face was always 
shining. This, said the Jew, had made such an impression 
on him that he wanted the mystery explained. The expla- 
nation led to his conversion. 

Another effect of communion with God is, that it keeps 
us humble. It was not the forty years of keeping sheep in 
the Midian desert, but the forty days and nights in the 
mount, that made Moses the meekest man. 

How much time do we devote to this communion ? Not 
merely to reading the Word but to real communion. Forty 
minutes a day ? How our faces would shine if we got as 
much as that. Even on the Lord's Day do we get forty 
minutes of real communion with God? 

Mr. Moody — How can we get it? 

Dr. Bonar — By feeding on the Word with prayer. There 
must be both reading and prayer. You cannot separate 
the two. 



CHAPTER X. 



LOVE OF CHBI8T. 

EEMARKS BY MR. MOODY AND OTHERS LOYALTY TO CHRIST NOW, 

TRIUMPH WITH HIM HERE AFTER THE POWER OF LOVE. 

Mr. Moody read, the part of 2 Samuel, xv, narrating the 
conduct of Ittai, the Gittite, who adhiered to David in 
adversity, while Ahithophel fled to the standard of Absalom. 
Said he: It must have been David's kind treatment of him 
that so won the heart of Ittai, that he was willing to share 
reverses with him. And don't you suppose that when 
David returned to his palace in triumph, he took very good 
care of Ittai ever after ? In like manner the Lord J esus Christ 
has won our love and our allegiance by what He has done 
for us and what He is to us. It is now our privilege to share 
with Him the world's treatment of Him. "He was despised 
and rejected of men." But the crowning day is coming. 
Let us be faithful now. The more He is reviled by the 
world the nearer let us cliog to Him. Let us be unswerv- 
ing in our loyalty, though all the world were against Him. 
Certain and precious will be our reward. 

Dr. Pentecost referred to the conduct of Naomi's daugh- 
ter-in-law, when she was leaving the land of Moab. In 
response to her entreaty that they should go back, Orpah 
gave her a kiss and went back; but Kuth clave unto her, 
and said, "Whither thou goest I will go." There is a great 
deal of difference between just kissing the Master and going 
back, and cleaving to Him. 

(57) D 



58 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Mr. "Wilkie, of Brooklyn, described what a pleasure it 
was to him to watch his little boy at play. Though he per- 
mitted him to gambol at will under his eye, he never wanted 
him to wander out of his sight. So it was with our Lord and 
us. His children. 

Mr. Moody said: There is no power like love. I loved 
my little boy long before he loved me. One night I heard 
him say to his mamma, when he thought me asleep, "I love 
papa." What a thrill of joy that gave me. I had loved 
him from infancy, but now he was beginning to love me. 
A few weeks before, he might have seen me carried out of 
the house in a coffin, and, perhaps, not knowing better, have 
thoughtlessly laughed about it. But now my love for him 
had found a response. Something like this is the feeling 
which God has when a sinner melts under His love. Love 
produces love. "What a power it might become in our pul- 
pits and Sunday school classes and meetings! The reason 
we have so little love for Jesus Christ is that we are so little 
acquainted with Him. The more intimately we get 
acquainted with the Son of God, the more shall we love 
Him; and we may get acquainted with Him by reading 
about Him in the Word. If you can read the life of Jesus 
Christ without having your heart kindled with love toward 
Him, the devil has surely blinded you, and you ought to 
pray God to open your eyes. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION . 

ADDRESS BY THE EEV. W. J, EEDMAN, OF JAMESTOWN, N. Y. MEAN- 
ING AND PURPOSES OF THE REVELATION ITS PREFIGUREMENT 

OF THE COMING OF CHRIST IN GLORY. 

Mr. Erdman said: In Matt., xvi, 13-17, we read that 
"When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he 
asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the 
Son of Man am? And they said, Some say Thou art John 
the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of 
the prophets. He saith unto them. But whom say ye that I 
am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God." In the answer of Jesus 
that follows it is expressly declared how one must be taught 
by the grace of God so to confess the Son of God, and it is 
also implied that the other four opinions concerning Jesus 
are the answers of "flesh and blood:" "Blessed art thou, 
Simon Barjona (Simon, Son of the grace of God), flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father 
which is in heaven." In Matt., xvi, 21-23, we read, "From 
that time forth began Jesus to shew out of the Old Testa- 
ment how he must suffer and die," and that the same Peter, 
who had just a moment before confessed Him, now took 
him and began to rebuke Him. Jesus, m His rebuke of 
Peter, declares how Peter now was thinking a thought "of 
men," even of "flesh and blood," and one, too, suggested by 

Satan himself. Behold the consistency of human reasoning. 

(59) 



60 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Ask a man to-day, " Who is Christ," and if his answer falls 
short of Peter's confession, ask him again, " Was it neces- 
sary for Christ to die to put away sin," and he will sub- 
stantially say with Peter yet untaught, "Be it far from 
Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee." 

To these two great truths of the person and work of our 
Lord Jesus, and to the promise that closed this memorable 
interview with His disciples — "There be some standing 
here, which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of 
Man coming in His kingdom" — the transfiguration of our 
Lord is directly related. 

I. It was the indorsement and confirmation of Peter's con- 
fession. This transfigured One was He who of old had 
appeared in glory; this was He whom once before Moses 
and Elijah beheld passing by in the awful solitudes of 
Horeb; this was the Sender of prophet and law- giver, whom 
now to acknowledge before these three apostles, Moses and 
Elijah came, the two great representative names of law and 
prophecy; this was Hi3 who should fulfill ceremonial type 
and shadow, for in this moment of supreme exaltation and 
surpassing glory, the very theme of their conversation was 
one of deepest humiliation and suffering. " They spake of 
His decease (exodus) which He should accomplish at Jeru- 
salem;" this was He who in the days of the fathers abode 
iutethe tabernacle prepared for the mighty One of Jacob, 
and in the heart of the cloud of "the excellent glory," which 
now encompassed Him; and this indeed was the Lord of 
Glory, the only begotten of the Father, for last of all came 
the all-confirming voice, " This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased; hear ye Him." 

II. The transfiguration in its wondrous topic of conver- 
sation, and by the presence of two such mighty men of God^ 
who came to speak of naught else, was an additional rebuke 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 



61 



of Peter, and the never-to-be-forgotten proof that the aton- 
ing death of Christ was the deepest, greatest, dearest 
thought of God, though distasteful to flesh and blood, and 
not of men. "My thoughts are not your thoughts," saith 
the Lord. Not so did Peter think in a late day when he 
wrote in his Epistle of the sufferings of Christ, and sought 
that after his own decease (i exodus), these things taught on 
this high and holy mount might always be had in remem- 
brance. 

III. Last of all, the transfiguration was the fulfillment 
of the promise that some should see the Messiah, now con- 
fessed by them, in His coming and glory. So Peter takes 
special pains to tell us in his second Epistle, that he had 
been an eye witness of the power and majesty of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Here, as in the future Messianic kingdom, 
were saints in glory above the earth, and an earthly Israel 
CD the earth. Here is a Moses who fell asleep, and whose 
sepulcher, like the graves of countless saints of the ages 
past — "no man knoweth," but the Lord knoweth, for He 
laid them asleep; and here is an Elijah who was wafted to 
heaven 'in transfiguring glory, like the saints that shall be 
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and be 
caught away to meet their coming Lord. At that day, too, 
when the kingdom shall at last be established in power and 
great glory, when heaven and earth shall be joined in 
goodly fellowship, many an Israelite, without guile, will 
add to Peter's confession, that of Nathaniel — " Thou art the 
Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel!" 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE SECOND COMING-, 

DISCOURSE BY DR. BONAR WHAT IT IS NOT WHY WE SHOULD BE 

INTENSELY INTERESTED IN IT FOUR REASONS WHY WE SHOULD 

BE READY FOR IT AT ANY MOMENT TWO REASONS RELATION 

OF THE TRUTH TO CHRISTIANS AND UNBELIEA'ERS. 

Dr. Bonar said: I begin by stating that so far as I 
can read Scripture, the coming of Christ never once means 
death. And yet it used to be very common to hear men say, 
" Oh, it means dying. The coming of Christ means our 
dying and going to Him." It never means that. I don't 
know one passage that could at all fairly be so interpreted. 
It always means Christ coming to us in person — Christ com- 
ing in glory. Another way to explain that expression was 
at one time rather a favorite in our country: "Oh, it means 
the destruction of Jerusalem, and the judgments that came 
upon Jerusalem. But the more you examine the passages 
that are so interpreted by some, you will be the less satisfied 
with that interpretation. It never means the destruction of 
Jerusalem. The subject is the coming of the Lord Jesus 
the second time. And what a contrast it will be with His 
first coming! The sign of His first coming — what was it? 
The angels said: "This shall be a sign unto you; you will 
find a babe in swaddling clothes, in a manger." There is 
the sign by which they were to know that this was very 
Christ — humiliation in a manger. But the sign of His 

second coming — what is it? It is this: He comes in glory 

(62) 



THE SECOND COMING. 



63 



— His own glory — His Father's glory — the glory of the holy 
angels. No swaddling clothes; no weakness; but all this 
glory and power. When He was here at His first coming, 
you remember how He stood and looked at Jerusalem and 
wept over it, telling of its coming ruin. When He comes 
the second time. His feet shall stand upon the Mount of 
Olives, but it will not be in order that He may weep over 
Jerusalem, but that He may come to bless. " The Lord my 
God shall come and all His saints " — His holy ones. He is 
coming to bless. At His first coming, you remember how many 
mocked Him in the judgment hall. At His second, coming 
^' every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue confess that 
He is Lord." At His first coming, in the judgment hall, 
you remember how they threw around Him that purple robe 
in mockery of His claim to be King. When He comes the 
second time, look at His vesture — "And He hath on His 
vesture, and on His thigh the name written, King of kings 
and Lord of lords." When He came the first time. He was 
like a grape in a wine- press — He was trodden and oppressed. 
When He comes the second time, He is to tread the wine- 
press — to tread it Himself, to the awful ruin of His enemies. 
When He came the first time, you know how they put into 
His hand a rod, when they crowned Him with the crown of 
thorns, and said in derision, "Oh, King!" When He comes 
the second time it is with a rod of iron, and the 45th Psalm 
describes the scepter of His kingdom — ^the scepter that shall 
yet be swayed over all lands, all worlds. In a word, when 
He came the first time it was to suffer; when He comes the 
second time, it is to end forever the suffering of His mem- 
bers and to enter upon His own highest joy. For I suspect 
that is the joy of the Lord that is meant when it is said: 
"Enter thou into the joy of the Lord." It is the joy Him- 
self shall enter into in that crowning day. 



64 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Now, with this preface we go on. I will lay down these 
two divisions, just for the sake of memory: We ought to be 
intensely interested in the subject of Christ's second comings 
and I will give four reasons. Then we ought to be ready 
at this moment for His appearing, and for that I will give 
two reasons. 

We ought to be intensely interested in the subject of 
Christ's coming. Now, I said I would give four reasons for 
this. One of them is, that Father, Son and Holy Ghost are 
intensely interested in this matter. The Father is so inter- 
ested in the coming again of the beloved Son, that He has 
again and again said it was He — it is the Father that is to 
send Him or to bring Him. "When Peter was preaching in 
the temple, he said: "The times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord, and He shall send Jesus 
Christ, which before was preached unto you." There is the 
Father sending the Son the second time into the world. And 
so it is written that "He bringeth again the only begotten 
into the world." He brings Him; He sends Him. Again, 
you remember, it is said in 1 Timothy, vi, 14, 15: "Keep this 
commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall shew, 
who is the blessed and only potentate." That glory at His 
appearing the Father will bring about. The Father Him- 
self is the "blessed and only potentate." And notice the 
well-known passage in the 4th chapter of 1st Thessalonians^ 
"Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 
It is the Father that brings Him back, and there it says He 
will take care to bring with Him all that fell asleep in Him. 
And, dear brethren, you may infer from this that the Fath- 
er's heart is set on the coming of the Son. It is all planned, 
all arranged. And it is something very blessed to notice 
the Father's interest in us shown by this very fact. Did 



THE SECOND COMING. 



65 



yon ever observe that three times that passage occurs — 
"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;" once in 
the 25th of Isaiah, once in the 7th of Revelation, and once 
in the 21st of Revelation. In all of the three passages it is 
God that wii^es away the tears. It is the Father that is 
determined to make our cup run over with blessing. Oh, 
the Father's love shining on us in the blessing He brings 
us through His Son! 

Then the Spirit is deeply and intensely interested. I just 
take one passage — Eom., viii, 23: " We that have the fii'st- 
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our- 
selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of 
om^ body." The Spirit causes us to groan for that time — 
that resui'rection time, which is the time of Christ's coming. 
"Groan" is used here in the sense of loncrino^ desire. The 
Spirit fills us with this desire. Or, look at Galatians, v, 5 : 
"We thi'ough the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness.'^ 
And that passage at the close of Revelation: "The Spirit 
and the bride " not only say, " Whosoever will, let him take 
the water of life freely" — the Spirit and the bride proclaim 
this to the world; but the Spirit and the bride twice say to 
Christ, "Come, Lord! Come, Lord!" 

Now, the Savior's own intense interest in His coming. 
I need not do more than just remind you of one passage in 
each Testament — one in the Old and another in the New. 
In the Song of Songs, we read: ''Until the day break and 
the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of 
myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense." There you find 
Christ coming to the hill to look out if there be any streaks 
of the coming day-break. In the New Testament remem- 
ber — "I come quickly," " Surely I come quickly." There 
are many such indications of His heart's yearning, but I 
need not dwell on this point. 



66 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Passing from this, let me say that another reason why 
we should be intensely interested in the coming of Christ, 
is this: We are enjoined so often to have regard to it. I 
don't know that there is any one matter of duty — indeed, I 
am sure there is no matter of duty we are so often pointed 
to with the finger of God as this: to look forward to the 
coming of Christ. You will find fifty times, I am sure, the 
coming of Christ adduced and enjoined on us as a reason 
for the practice of special duties and the cultivation of 
special graces. Even that one word "watch," the Lord 
uses 198 times. "Watch!" "Watch!" "If, therefore, thou 
shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou 
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." "Watch," 
He says to His disciples, again and again. And you remem- 
ber how He said, "Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, 
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things" 
that are coming on the earth, "and to stand before the Son 
of Man." In connection with other graces, think of such a 
passage as this: "Occupy till I come." Think of this 
passage, enjoining kindness to others and liberality. It 
says: "And ye shall be recompensed at the resurrection of 
the just." — Luke, xiv. Or in connection with work of all 
kinds, look at the 15th chapter of 1 Cor. Paul, after speak- 
ing of the resurrection and its glorious hope, says: "There- 
fore, my beloved brethren (seeing that we have such a hope 
of the Lord's coming and the resurrection morning), be ye 
steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in ^the work of the 
Lord." But, as I said, there are about fifty such passages. 
"Be patient unto the coming of the Lord," is another. 
" When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye 
also appear with Him in glory." "Mortify, therefore, your 
members that are on the earth." Just as if Christ had said 
that night, at the transfiguration, to His three disciples: 



THE SECOND COMING. 



67 



" You are going to-night to see a glorious sight. You are 
going to see Me in glory. You are going to see Moses and 
Elias appear with Me in glory. Take care how you watch. 
Mortify your members that are on the earth. You are going 
to look upon the Son." Well, that is one pressing reason 
why we should be intensely interested in this subject; and 
if you don't let the thought of Christ's coming interest you, 
in all the variety of ways in which it is presented to us in 
the Epistles and by the Lord himself, your holiness will 
suffer great loss. 

You know I think that every believer's holiness is defect- 
ive which has not this reason very prominent. Paul says, 
that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live 
soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; looking 
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." So that, you see, 
you have not dealt fairly with the grace that brings salva- 
tion, if it has not impelled you to look for this — -the blessed 
hope of His glorious appearing. " What manner of persons 
ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness, look- 
ing for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." 
Ah, notice how it makes a man earnest in all manner of 
holiness. I don't know anything that shows more real 
ignorance of the subject, than when you meet with good 
people, and hear them say: "Oh, if you hold those views, 
you will relax your efforts for winning souls — you will relax 
your efforts for gathering in the scattered Jews and the 
perishing heathen. " I don't know anything that more impels 
us to go and gather the elect than this thought, that Christ 
is at hand. The difference, however, is this: If I believe 
I may possibly convert a whole province, a whole kingdom, 
if not the whole world, then, when I go forth and labor for 
forty years, and there are not ten people that I see brought 



68 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



in in the way I expect, I begin to be utterly discouraged. 
One that holds this blessed hope, on the contrary, goes forth 
and says: "I wilJ just take what the Lord gives. This is 
the time of gathering in the elect." And so he is not in the 
least discouraged. He s^ys: "If the Lord is coming 
quickly, as there is every reason to think, He will save hun- 
dreds and thousands before He comes. He will save a great 
multitude of people prepared for the Lord to meet Him at 
His coming." Let me say, then, that for your own joy — for 
your own clearness of view — it would be a good thing for 
you to study and be interested in this subject. There was 
a godly man living near my church, and one of my elders 
who knows the blessed hope, used to meet him now and then 
going to business. "Well," the elder would say, "we had 
such a word about the blessed hope yesterday." "The 
truth is," said the other, one day, "I don't feel quite happy 
in my own soul." "Well," said my friend, "just pay more 
attention to what the Lord says about looking for His com- 
ing, and see what effect it may have upon you." Well, the 
man came to him not more than ten days after, and said: 
"This is most extraordinary. I just did as you said. I 
gave a week to this subject to see what I could discover. 
All that week I quite forgot about myself, and my doubts 
and difficulties; and in the study of Christ's coming I 
entered into full assurance. How is this?" "Oh," said the 
other, "it is quite simple; your eye was kept fixed on Christ? 
and, as you kept looking on Him, and cherishing the hope 
of His return, you were delivered from self," The good 
man said: "You are right; I discover it now, and I will 
keep my eye there." Perhaps some of you believers who 
are troubled — so ready to fall into trouble — would be delivered 
from it all by looking at the crown of Christ as well as at 
His cross. 



THE SECOND COMING. 



69 



But now, the tliird reason why we should be intensely 
interested in this subject, is this: There will be no Millen- 
niiun till Christ comes. There can be no Millennium of 
peace and prosperity to the church till Christ comes. In the 
24th chapter of Matthew, Christ distinctly says there is no 
rest from tribulation to the -poor Jews till He return. He 
says: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days 
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven; and then shall 
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son 
of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and 
great glory." The waves of tribulation are to beat on the 
shores of Palestine and upon the poor people of Israel, till 
the Son of Man appear in the clouds of heaven. Then, in 
the 21st chapter of Luke, we have a similar prophecy. 
There will be no end of tribulation among the nations- — the 
Gentile nations — till the Lord come. You will never get 
kingdoms to be right — you will never get governments to 
suit you, till the Lord comes. And you will never get grief 
and sorrow out of the earth till then. In that chapter 
Christ says— see the 25th and 26th verses: "There shall 
be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and 
upon the earth distresses of nations, with perplexity." And 
what is the end of this? " Then shall they see the Son of 
MaD coming in a cloud, with power and great glory." 
Nothing but distresses and perplexity among the nations till 
the Son of Man appears in the clouds of heaven. Again, in 
the same direction, let me say to saints: The Church of 
Christ has no promised rest till Christ come. Did you ever 
notice, that, in the upper room, when (Jhrist was telling His 
disciples about the future of His Church, He didn't say: 
" The vessel of My Church shall sail over a smooth sea, with 
sunshine;" but didn't He say: "It shall be through storms 



70 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



and tempests. Men will hate you." He warns them. There 
will be all manner of trial in the world. "Ye shall have 
tribulation," and so on. He says: "A woman, when she 
is in travail, has sorrow, because her hour is come; He 
says, "the joy is afterward." So He says: "You in the 
kingdom are suffering and in sorrow; but I will see you 
again — I will come back to you the second time, and your 
hearts shall rejoice, and no man shall take that joy away." 
This is in the 14th chapter of John. In 2 Thess., 1st chap- 
ter, where the Church is spoken of, Paul, speaking by the 
Spirit, says, verse 7 : " Seeing that it is a righteous thing 
with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. 
And to you who are troubled, rest with us." When is the 
rest ? " When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on 
them that know not God." No rest for the church of 
Christ till then. There will be errors. There will be all 
manner of errors. There will be trials. There will be 
stumbling-blocks of every kind. No rest till that day, when 
the Lord appears from heaven. And how could it be other- 
wise? Popery will not be destroyed; and all that comes out 
of Popery, included in the expression, "That man of sin," is 
not to be destroyed till Christ come. When describing 
"That man of sin" and his full development, it is said: 
"Whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His 
mouth, and destroy with the righteousness of His coming." 
There is no getting over that passage. I never heard or 
read an interpreter who could explain that passage in any 
other way than that it is the second coming of the Lord 
that puts an end to Antichrist, and nothing else. Well, 
then, Antichrist exists till Christ returns. There can be no 
rest till Christ's return, and to look for the Millennium 
before that is altogether an absurdity. And besides, Satan 



THE SECOND COMING. 



71 



is not bound till Christ's return. In the beginning of the 
19th chapter of Revelation, you have Christ coming out of 
heaven, and in the 20th chapter you have Satan bound and 
cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Till 
Satan is in the bottomless pit — Satan and all his angels — 
there can be no rest for this poor world of ours. Oh, what 
a time when there is no Death on the earth! Oh, what a 
world, when he is not going to and fro in our world! Bat 
that will not be till Christ comes, and it will be when He 
comes. It is a glorious thought! And then we might add 
other considerations, but it would keep you, perhaps, upon 
one point too long. 

Let me get upon this fourth reason. We should be 
intensely anxious for the coming of the Lord for this reason: 
We will not get our reward till then. When we die, we are 
blessed. There is no sleep to the soul. It is one of the 
old heresies that the devil has been reviving at this day 
that the soul sleeps till the resurrection. It is as old as the 
second century, but the devil knows when to bring it out 
again. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.'^ 
They enter into rest and behold the face of the Lord in 
glory. But they do not get their reward then. Their works 
do follow them; but when is the time of their rewai'd? 
Christ says, in Revelation: "I come quickly, and My 
reward is with Me." You will not get it till the day when 
Christ comes. You will get it then. And it is worth look- 
ing for, and worth getting. In the book of Numbers, the 
daughters of Zelophehad are highly praised for suing for 
the inheritance. The Lord said that they had done well to 
covet the portion he gave them. And shall we not covet 
our portion — our reward in the kingdom ? Surely it is a 
far better reward. Well, it is then we will get it. Isn't it 
specially said to ministers, and elders, and those that labor 



72 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



for souls: "When Christ, the Chief Shepherd shall appear, 
then ye will receive a crown of glory." That is the crown- 
ing day. Then — -not till then. You will not get your 
reward till then. It comes at that time. And I might 
quote to you much about this reward. I don't understand 
what the resurrection body will be; but that is scarcely a 
reward — it is a preparation for receiving it. I look upon 
this resurrection body in this light. If I were a mere glo- 
rified spirit, I would be a vessel without a rim; I couldn't 
take in a great deal. But when I have got my resurrection 
body, and I am a glorified man like my Savior, then the 
vessel, the golden vessel, is ready for all that the Lord 
will pour into it. And so you are too long for that 
resmTection — the day of our crowning and the day of our 
reward. But suppose, some one says to me- -and I have 
heard this said: "Well, but you are rather hard upon those 
that don't look for this premillennial coming. You seem to 
think they will not get this reward. Now, I wouldn't 
say that." In the 9th of Hebrews, we read: "Unto them 
that look for Him shall He appear the second time unto sal- 
vation." Some infer from that that if you are not looking 
for Him He will not appear to you. That is not the mean- 
ing of the passage, and we must take all the truth. I 
believe that those that are not looking for Christ's coming, 
may, nevertheless, look for Him with intense desire. They 
just wish it were true. There was an ancestor of mine — 
for I think the premillennial view must have been in our 
family for 200 years nearly — one of my ancestors that had 
been up at the Westminster Assembly with other ministers^ 
and they had met with those who were called premillennial- 
ists. This ancestor of mine, James Bonar, heard them talk- 
ing about it when they came back, but said nothing. They 
turned at last to him: "Do you suppose the Lord is coming 



THE SECOND COMING. 



73 



as soon as people tliink ?" " Well," he said, " I haven't looked 
much into that subject, but I will tell you this, I wish they 
were right; and if it be true, I would be the first to run out 
to meet and welcome Him." That is the disposition. It 
could not be said to be waiting, in one sense, yet in his 
heart he was. Or, let me illustrate it to you in another way. 
I think those that are not looking for Him will lose some- 
thing — I do think they will — because Christ says in the 12th 
of Luke, 35th and 36th verses: "Let your loins be girded 
about, and your lights burning : and ye yourselves, like men 
that wait for their lord, when he will retm'n from the wed- 
ding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to 
him immediately." "Immediately." That is to say, don't 
have any preparation to make. The moment there is a 
knock, run. Don't be entangled with the affairs of this life. 
If you are writing, throw down the pen and run out to meet 
Him. In Edinburgh, when our queen fii'st came — at her 
first visit to Edinburgh — at least among the first — the ves- 
sel that brought her landed in the evening. It was con- 
cluded — "Oh. she will not come ashore till 9 in the morn- 
ing," and our Lord Provost had that idea. But what hap- 
pened? The queen was very famous — used to be when she 
was very active — for taking "people by surprise, and she 
landed between 6 and 7. The Chief Magistrate was sadly 
ashamed of himself. He didn't lose his place; he was still 
what he was before; but he bitterly regretted that he had 
not been waiting for her, to welcome her when she set foot 
upon the shore. I think that will be the way with those 
who are not looking out for Christ's kingdom. They will 
regret not having been waitiDg for Him, when they might 
have been there to give Him a hearty welcome. Then here 
is another question sometimes propounded to me. There is 
a visionary way of looking at the subject. We have had 

E 



74 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



people among us who say, that when Christ comes, He will 
walk about the world, walk up and down the world, as He 
did in Galilee with His disciples. No such thing. That 
is not the meaning of reigning — reigning over the earth. 
His throne will be visible some way; I cannot tell how, and 
He will be seen reigning on that throne. I sometimes fig- 
ure it to myself in this way. In the 24th of Exodus, the 
elders went up the hill and saw the God of Israel, " and there 
was under His feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire 
stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness.'^ 
Eead in connection with that what we find in the 1st chap- 
ter of Ezekiel and the 26th verse: "Above the fii-mament 
that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as 
the appearance of a sapphire stone: "And upon the likeness of 
the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above 
upon it." And, dear friends, I cannot help thinking that 
the pillar of cloud was fitted and intended to teach us some- 
thing here. Look at yon pillar of cloud over all the tents 
of Israel. Oh, if you could just draw that curtain aside,, 
what would you see ? The throne of the Son of Man right 
over the many thousands of Israel. I think it will be some- 
what in this way He will appear upon Jerusalem. He will 
be visible to every eye there, and those caught up in the air 
will be with Him there. And what leads me to speak some- 
what more confidently on the pillar of fire being the emblem 
of this, is that beautiful passage in Isaiah, the 4th chapter, 
and 5th verse: " The Lord will create upon every dwelling- 
place in Mount Zion, and upon her temples, a cloud and 
smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night." 
As if He said: "This shall be the fulfillment of the pillar 
of cloud." For upon all (and over all) the glory shall be a 
defense" — a covering, or a large canopy, as the word means. 
The glory shall be a covering, that shall be stretched like a 



THE SECOND COMING. 



75 



large canopy over Jemsalem. "And this shall be a taber- 
nacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for 
a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and rain." 
These are mere hints in passing. 

I want now to take a few minutes to say we ought to be 
ready at this moment, and I give two special reasons for 
this. One reason is: the day of His coming seems to be 
very near. Nobody will ever know the year, far less the 
month or the day. When any one says. " In such a year," 
you may just put that down as altogether a mistake — an 
utter mistake. " Of that day and hour no man knoweth." 
Not only that, but the angels in Heaven, and Christ himself, 
when He was on earth, did not know it. It was part of 
His humiliation. But when He ascended. He did know, 
and that was part of His exaltation. That the time of His 
appearing is near is evident from this: All the interpreters 
of prophecy, though varying in details, converge to this con- 
clusion, that we are just at the close of this period. They 
seem all to say that we are just about the close of this 
period. It is awfully solemn, brethren. The times of the 
Gentiles are very soon to close. What if you read some 
morning that the Tui'ks are driven out of Palestine, or that 
they are withdrawn from Palestine — that the times of the 
Gentiles are ended ? And I should not be surprised any 
week to hear these tidings. The days that point to the end 
of the times of the Gentiles are at hand. Then, who does 
not know those words in Daniel, xii, 4: " Many shall run to 
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel says it 
is the sign of the times in the end. Now, for running to 
and fro, what a world ours has become! Look at Europe 
and America: just endless running to and fro — railways and 
steamboals, and travelers never at rest. Many run to and 
fro. Or take it, as some have done, that this means 



76 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



running to and fro on God's errands — well, there never 
was such a missionary time as our time. " And knowledge 
shall be increased." Who does not know how knowledge 
has been increased ? Look at science. Look at our knowl- 
edge of history, geology, astronomy — every department of 
knowledge is increased. And if you take it as spiritual 
knowledge, what an increase of knowledge we have had in 
regard to the Word of God — the interpretation of it and the 
application of it! So that this is another sign that the end 
is at hand. We are living when the shadow of eternity is 
almost fallen over you, fellow-sinner. Christ says, in the 
24th of Matthew: "The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be 
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and 
then shall the end come." He doesn't say that all nations 
shall be converted. That is another of the old misunder- 
standings. People read the verse as if it meant : " The 
Gospel shall be preached till all nations shall be converted; " 
whereas Christ says it "shall be preached for a witness unto 
all nations." Now, every nation, indeed, in our day has 
heard the Gospel. The Bible has been printed in every 
language for a witness. Wherever there is an opening, a 
missionary steps in — a witness steps in. Whenever a new 
country is discovered, there is a proposal to send mission- 
aries. Your country has done an immense deal toward the 
fulfillment of this prophecy. Well, all that makes it very 
solemn. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins may 
be fulfilled in our time. If a cry should be heard: " Behold, 
the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him" — would 
you be ready ? Another sign of the last days we find in the 
3d chapter of 2 Timothy. Paul says that in the latter 
times you will find these singular signs : " Men shall be 
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blas- 
phemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, with- 



THE SECOND COMING. 



77 



out natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, inconti- 
nent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, 
high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." 
And then he ends with saying that they will have the form 
of godliness without the power. Now, look at our churches 
and church members — lovers of pleasure, frequenters of the 
theater, delighting in the ball-room, high-minded, proud, 
covetous. A great many of them are all that, and yet they 
say they are Christians. They have got the form of godli- 
ness, but not the power. The Holy Ghost by Paul said that 
that would be a sign of the last days. No wonder we find 
those inside the chiu-ch as well as those outside the church 
that oppose the work of the Lord. Ah, all this makes us 
tremble. IjThe time must be quite at hand now. 

And then again, as the time is thus near, we ought to be 
waiting for it with ^ eager expectation; not only that, but 
further, when it does come it will come very sudden. It 
will come upon usllike a flash of lightning. Christ says: 
"Behold, I come as a thief ." See Eev., xvi, 13: "And I 
saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth 
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast and out of 
the mouth of ^the false prophet. For they are the spirits of 
devils, working miracles " which go forth unto the kings of 
the earth, and to the whole world, to gather them to the bat- 
tle of that great day of God Almighty." When those spirits 
go forth croaking over the earth, insinuating all manner of 
error and delusion — it is just when this is going on that 
Christ says: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that 
watcheth, and keepeth his garments." Take care of this, 
and be found among those that are keeping their garments. 
Then again, doesn't He say: "As it was in the days of Lot, 
so shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed." You 
know, Lot went forth, and told his sons-in-law and those 



78 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



around him — " Sodom is to be destroyed to-morrow; " and 
he seemed to them as one that mocked. But what hap- 
pened? Night passed. Morning came. It was a beauti- 
ful morning. When the sun was risen on the earth, I don't 
think the E-iver Jordan — flowing onward, and perhaps, as 
the river in the Garden of Eden, dividing in those days into 
four heads — ever looked more lovely. The trees never 
looked more beautiful, and the flowers. The birds never 
sang more sweetly. Nature never wore a pleasanter aspect 
than when the sun was risen on the earth; and yet it was 
not risen long before it was darkened, and down came the 
flre and brimstone, and what became of Sodom ? So our 
world will be going on in its prosperity — its fancied 
security. People will be saying: " Where is the promise of 
His coming?" and in an hour that ye think not, lo, He 
Cometh! There is a hymn that says: 

" He comes with sudden stroke to smite 

The busy sons of men — 
He Cometh as a thief at night, 

And no man knoweth when — 
No voice is heard, nor warning given 
That sinners may prepare for heaven, 

And turn to G-od again. 

"Watch, therefore, since you neither know 

The appointed hour nor day. 
Watch, lest the unexpected blow 

Should find your soul astray. 
Watch ! watch in patience, faith and prayer ; 
To meet the unknown hour prepare 

That summons you away." 

My friend, Mr. McCheyne, often used to speak on this 
subject. He had not gone fully into it, but he used to 
preach the coming of the Lord with great delight; and one 
evening he solemnized the congregation just in this simple 
way: He had been talking of the parable of the ten virgins? 



THE SECOND COMING. 



79 



and he looked around and said: "Now, if I were going 
around the church, and going over to you and saying, ' Do 
you think that the Lord Jesus will come to-night, or to-mor- 
row?' I suppose the answer would be 'I don't think so.' 
And if I went to this side and asked at every pew the same 
question, I expect I would get the same answer — ' Well, I 
don't think so.' Well, we will just read to you what Christ 
says: 'In an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh.' 
He will take you wholly by surprise." You know, people 
say such and such things are yet to be fulfilled before He 
comes. I cannot tell anything about that. I know He says 
He will take us by surprise. Dr. Payson has a very strik- 
ing idea about it. He says: "Yon is a great city. It is a 
busy market day. They are all busy in the market-place. 
Some one looks up, and is struck with an unusual appear- 
ance up there. He keeps his eye on it. He touches his 
neighbor and says, ' What is yon ? ' As they are looking, a 
third and fourth join. The appearance seems getting redder 
and redder — brighter and brighter. A dozen or twenty join 
the group. As they are all gazing up, the hum of the 
market ceases. The whole market looks up, and cries, ' What 
is this in the sky ? ' The brightness is becoming an exeeed- 
ing brightness — brighter than the sun at noon. The sun is 
darkened. The brightness becomes insufferable. 'Look! 
Our shadows are all cast in an opposite direction from what 
they were a little while ago.' A human form is seen. 
It is the coming of the Lord again. He has burst upon us 
in an hour when we were not thinking." Well, I dare say 
something like that will occur in many a city of our world 
in that day. When He does appear, it will be a glorious 
appearing. The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven 
with a shout, brethren— the Lord himself, the same Jesus. 
He will "descend with a shout." All Heaven and all earth 



80 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



will start with the shout. What is the shout? It is the 
company with Him— the shouting of angels — shouting for 
joy that the Bridegroom is come. The Lord himself shall 
descend from Heaven with a shout — the shout of the King's 
attendants as they come along with their King. Then the 
trump of God will be sounded — the voice of the archangel 
and the trump of God. That trump of the archangel is 
what awakens the dead. I believe it will be something like 
this: The archangel sounds his trumpet, and the dead in 
their graves — those that are dead in Christ — shall first rise. 
The voice of the Son of Man himself shall say to the sleepers, 
" Come forth." There is a beautiful thought in this con- 
nection. A brother now in glory was preaching for me on 
Lazarus one evening, and he said: "Christ is the Resurrec- 
tion; and, friends, do you notice that when He raised any 
one. He always named the person, or in some way gave a 
very definite intimation of who it was He wished to arise. 
When He raised J airus' daughter, He said, ' Maiden, 
maiden it is you I mean.' When He raised the widow's son, 
He said: 'Young man, arise.' When He raised Lazarus. 
He said: 'Lazarus, come forth.' Now," said this brother? 
" do you know, I think that if He hadn't said, ' Maiden,' and 
' Young man,' and ' Lazarus,' but just said 'Arise ! come forth 
the whole of the sleeping saints would have just risen at 
His word, because He was ' the Resurrection ? ' " I think 
there was something very beautiful in the idea. When the 
Lord does come, we that are in Christ shall first rise. As 
we were singing, it will be very blessed if we go without 
dying. We that are alive — that remain — shall be caught up 
in the air. I always think that is the very center of the 
Devil's dominion; he is called "the prince of the power of 
the air." We shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the 
air. The risen saints, too, will all be there. We shall be 



THE SECOND COMING. 



81 



"changed in the twinkling of an eye." What a day of 
recognitions! Oh, what a day of gladness! Do you not 
often think upon it, and do you not feel with your whole 
heart, " I wish He were coming this day ? " Well, we meet 
the Lord in the air. I want you to notice the word meet." 
It is not to he with the Lord in the air, or in the cloud. 
Paul's friends at Eome came out to meet Him, and convoyed 
him to the city. So we shall meet the Lord in the cloud, 
and convoy Him whithersoever He is going. He is coming 
down to reign, and we shall go with Him wherever He goes. 
Then it is that we shall have our thousand years' Millennium. 
The blessed and holy after the first resurrection shall reign 
with Christ a thousand years. At the end of the thousand 
years, they will be with Chiist witnessing the Devil bursting 
forth with his armies. They will be with Christ witnessing 
how, with a stroke — with a Hash of fire from His throne — 
He destroys him, lays him low. They will be with Christ, 
every one of them, at the great white throne. They will be 
on the right hand of that throne. They will be there, look- 
ing at the awful company on the left hand, witnessing 
against them, and saying: "You might have been saved, 
even as we have been saved." Ah, what a day it will be! 
And then after that begins what Paul speaks of in Ephe- 
sians, ii, 7 : " That in the ages to come He might show the 
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us 
through Christ Jesus." 

Now, I just end by appealing to any one here: Is there 
not something in this subject fitted to make you, before you 
rise from your seat, come to a decision that you will now 
receive the Savior? On the continent of Europe some 
years ago, I think in a town of Switzerland, some working- 
men going early to work, walking along the street, saw a 
white figure on the top of a high house. What was it ? A 



82 



GEMS FKOM NORTHFIELD. 



lady in her night-dress; and she was sitting looking down, 
quite happj, smiling in perfect security. She was a som- 
nambulist. She had risen in her sleep without any one in 
the house knowing it, and there she had taken her station, 
and was pleasantly looking about, and no doubt dreaming 
— dreaming pleasant dreams. Well, they didn't know what 
they would do to save her from her peril. They talked 
about it, and wondered what they could do in the danger 
of awakening her. Just as they were talking together, the 
sun rose. A bright beam of the sun fell upon her eyes ; she 
saw where she was ; gazed one moment around, and then fell 
headlong — killed on the spot. It was an awful awakening. 
Fellow- sinner, if you are out of Christ, and the day of His 
coming overtakes you — oh, what if the first. beam of that 
bright day be the first moment of your awakening, and it is 
too late! For whoever has had the offer of the Gospel in 
these days, and has not accepted it, it is plain — it could not 
be plainer— that that soul shall be excluded from the King- 
dom when Christ comes to take vengeance on them that 
believe not the Gospel. Oh, it will be an awful eternity to 
you, when your eyes are opened to know something of the 
glory of the Savior just as the door is shut! 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CONSECRATION FOR SERVICE. 

ADDRESSES BY ME. GEORGE C. NEEDHAM, MAJOR WHITTLE, DR. GOOD- 
WIN, OF CHICAGO, DR. PENTECOST AND DR. BONAE DUTIES OF 

BELIEVERS ENTIRE CONSECRATION MUST PRECEDE POWER 

WITH THE WORLD. 

Mr. Needham said: In the 2d chapter of 2 Timothy, if 
you will read it, you will see that believers are called sol- 
diers, husbaridmen, workmen, vessels and servants. In the 
20th and 21st verses we read: "In a great house there are 
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and 
of earth; and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a 
man, therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a 
vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, 
and prepared unto every good work." Now, I want to call 
your attention especially to the fact that, in Scripture lan- 
guage, the believer is a vessel. As a vessel, he needs purg- 
ing. Josiah, you remember, purged the temple groves. 
David said, " Purge me with a hyssop " — that is, virtually, 
with blood. Said Christ himself, "Every branch that bear- 
eth not fruit, He purgeth it." Said Paul, "Purge out the 
old leaven." It is true that God often purges His people, 
but it is also true that a responsibility rests upon us individ- 
ually to purge ourselves. Thus Paul writes to the Corinth- 
ians "Put away all filthiness." 

Now, we all want to be vessels of honor, and not of dis- 
honor. And notice, that no matter what kind of a vessel a 

(83) 



84 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



man may be in natural gifts, whether of gold and silver, 
or only earthen, if he purge himself, he shall be a vessel 
unto honor. Sometimes we see a speaker who has brilliant 
gifts, but who is full of defilement and heresy, and we say, 
" Oh, if that man were only converted, what a power he 
would be! " Another man, who is a believer, may not glitter 
with natural endowments ; yet, if he will purge himself and 
become thoroughly sanctified, he may be of far greater serv- 
ice — he may be so used that thousands will bless him. God 
will use a vessel of wood or earth, if it is made meet for His 
use, as readily as one of gold or silver. No matter what the 
vessel is, see that it is clean. 

In Hebrews, x, 10 — 14 we see that all believers have been 
set apart to Christ. But, when vessels are set aside, dust 
settles on them. Daily cleansing, therefore, is needed. 
Observe how careful and particular were the injunctions con- 
cerning the cleansing of vessels under the Levitical law. In 
Leviticus, xi, 32, we see that when any creeping thing 
touched a vessel after it was dead, the vessel had to be 
placed in water until the even. We are constantly touching 
the dead things of the world. We maybe unconscious of it, 
but the touch contaminates us. Therefore we must make 
daily application to be cleansed from all defilement. In 
Numbers, xix, 15, and Matthew, xxii, 25, we see that we are 
to be kept from the world of death, and that we are to be 
cleansed thoroughly, both inside and out. Now, let us 
consider our preparation — for we are to be not only purged, 
but prepared unto every good work. We sing, "Only an 
empty vessel," but that should not be all. After we have 
been emptied, we are to be filled. What shall we be filled 
with? Joy, peace and hope. See Romans, xiv, 13: "Now 
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 
that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy 



CONSECRATION FOR SERVICE. 



85 



Ghost. Light. See 2 Cor., iv, 6, 7: "For God, who com- 
manded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in 
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory 
of God in the face of Christ Jesus. But we have this treas- 
ure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may 
be of God, and not of us." This reminds us of the light in 
the vessels of Gideon's band, which put the enemy to rout. 
The Spirit. See Eph., v, 18: "And be not drunk with wine, 
wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." God's 
name. See Acts, ix, 15: " But the Lord said unto him (Ana- 
nias), Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to 
bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the chil- 
dren of Israel." All the fullness of God. See Eph., iii, 
19: "To know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, 
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." How 
precious is this truth! The fullness of God was in the tab- 
ernacle and the temple. God was tabernacled with Christ. 
" In Him was the fullness of God." We are to be filled 
with this fullness. We do not know — who has ever known? 
— what this fullness is. God help us to realize it in some 
measure. Let us be cleansed and purified vessels, filled 
vessels, and then no one will need to exhort us to do some- 
thing for the Lord. Activity is a condition of holiness. 
Service will flow from us as the most natural and delight- 
ful thing. 

Dr. Goodwin, of Chicago, said: We do not find the 
word " consecration " at all in the Scriptures, but we do find 
the word "sanctified." That is the word used by God in 
connection with His people. They are set apart to His 
service. In Exodus, xix, 5, we see that God regarded Israel 
as such a people. He says: " Now, therefore, if ye will obey 
My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then shall ye be a 
peculiar treasure unto Me above all people : for all the earth 



86 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



is Mine." They were Grod's people. They had no right in 
themselves. In 1 Peter, ii, 9, believers are spoken of as a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a 
peculiar people. We are the people whom God hath set on 
high, that He maybe made known. Christ said: "I am the 
light 01 the world." He said also: "Ye are the light of the 
world." Virtually He said: " You are in the world as I am 
in the world. You are to be as I am. My power is to be 
revealed through you." It is reverent and proper to say that, 
without the Church of Christ, the glory of God cannot be 
revealed. Christ spoke of Himself as sanctified, and we are 
also sanctified — consecrated- -marked out as belonging to 
God. In 1 Cor., ii, 16, Paul says: "Know ye not that ye 
are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth 
in you?" The Jews' temple was an architectural triumph of 
marvelous beauty and wondrous magnificence. We are 
likened to it, and told that every believer is a dwelling of 
the Holy Spirit. What the indwelling power of the Spirit 
is may be seen in Moses' rod. The rod was a common, insig- 
nificant stick — a bit of acacia — but when it was linked with 
the power of God it could do mighty works. How quickly 
that power comes! The woman at the well in Samaria went 
and told of Christ, in the power of the Spirit, and imme- 
diately there was a great revival. A noted gambler in Chi- 
cago was converted. His prayer to God was in gamblers' 
slang, but God knew what he meant, and received him. The 
man thought he ought to do something in his Master's serv- 
ice. He told his story; God blessed it; and on the power 
of the Spirit he has been telling it ever since with wonder- 
ful success. He has won more souls than any man in my 
church. Dear brothers and sisters, if the world wants any- 
thing, it is men and women set apart to God, filled with the 
Spirit, and ready to be used. What miracles we would see 



CONSECRATION FOR SERVICE. 



87 



— I do not know but we have them now — if there were hun- 
dreds and thousands of such men and women in every com- 
munity, instead of only a few among the roll of believers. 
Oh, that we could all say from the heart, " None of self and 
all of Thee! " What power there would be in the prayer 
meeting, in the family gathering, and in our intercourse 
with the world. There would be such a change in us that 
even if the world did not accept the Lord Jesus Christ, it 
would at least believe in His people, and thus, to that 
extent, contribute to the glory of His name. This is 
what we want — the spirit of surrender, of getting in the 
dust before God, of being nothing that He may be every- 
thing. 

Dr. Pentecost said: We are apt to fall into two mis- 
takes. Some people regard sanctification or consecration 
entirely with reference to the personal life — they seek per- 
sonal holiness. They are always viewing themselves, and 
trying to determine whether they have reached perfect sanc- 
tification, to the exclusion of thought about service. Others 
seek consecration for service only, and, in the midst of their 
arduous and busy work, neglect the personal life. We need 
both kinds of consecration. We need first to be consecrated 
ourselves. See Gal., v, 16, 17: "The flesh lusteth against 
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are 
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the 
things that ye would." This last clause is freed from mis- 
interpretation in the new version: " Ye may not (or need not) 
do the things that ye would." The Spirit may be triumph- 
ant. Two parties have grown up about the possibility of en- 
tire sanctification, and two classes of passages are cited. But 
there need be no difficulty. As with other doctrines of which 
two sides are apparently irreconcilable, let the believer come 
before God in communion with Him, and he will under- 



88 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



stand and reconcile the two great truths in his own soul, 
though human language will fail him to tell about it. 

Now, as to consecration for service, see Exodus, iv. 
iVIoses was afraid to go to Egypt on God's errand, and so 
God said, "What is that in thy hand?" He answered, "A 
rod." The rod was the emblem of his occupation as a shep- 
herd. God told him to cast it down, and when he did so he 
took it up again endued with new power. With that rod he 
was to convince the children of Israel that the God of their 
fathers had appeared unto him. Here is a lesson for us all. 
Whatever our occupation may be, let us throw down the 
plow, the plane, the yardstick, the library, before God; and 
when we take them up again, our daily occupation will be 
made the means of service for Him, in the power of the Holy 
Ghost. A servant who consecrated her dishcloth and did 
her work faithfully as before God was the means of the con- 
version of a very worldly family. 

In Heb., xii, 21, it says: May God " make you perfect." 
The Greek word here is the same as in Matt., iv, 21 — "mend- 
ing their nets." The Holy Spirit is to mend our tempers, 
or any defect in our Christian character, and thus make us 
a greater power in the world. 

We must be faithful. When God receives us to our final 
reward. He says: "Well, done, good and faithful servant." 
A husband was absent for years; suitors told his wife that 
her husband must be dead, but she remained faithful. In 
high station or low, it is ours to be faithful to Christ. Dr. 
John Hall said to a young minister: " If you want a large 
charge, make yourself conspicuously useful where you are." 
A waterfall in these hills goes on just the same whether 
one visitor or a thousand beholds it. So let us do service 
for Christ, without ceasing, and all we can, just where 
we are. 



CONSECRATION FOR SERVICE. 



89 



Maj. Whittle called attention to the following seven 
texts: 1 Cor., ix, 27: "But I keep under mjbody, and bring 
it into subjection: lest by any means, when I have preached 
to others, I myself should be a castaway." We are power- 
less sometimes because we indulge the appetites. 2 Cor., 
xii, 9, 10: ''And He said unto Me, My grace is sufficient for 
thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most 
gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that 
the p3wer of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take 
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in per- 
secutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am 
weak; then am I strong." We should learn to bear in- 
firmities. An old man recently converted was called 
upon, among others in a church, for a contribution. He 
began to think what he would give He felt his old 
natm*e coming up; so he took his whole purse, threw it 
into the contribution box, and said, " Now, squirm away, 
old nature." God's grace is sufficient for any infirmity. 1 
Cor., xii, 18: "But now hath God set the members every 
one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him." We 
must not be solicitous of reputation or preferment. All dis- 
position of that kind must be kept under. The temptation 
to wish to figure in the daily press should be guarded against. 
ICor., iv, 3: "But with me it is a very small thing that I 
should be judged ol you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge 
not mine own self." We should be free from the fear of 
men. Lord E-adstock was converted under the preaching of 
Duncan Mathieson. Said Mathieson: " We have a meeting 
to-night. I want you to speak." Said Lord Radstock, *' Oh, 
I can't. I have a handle to my name," Said Mathieson, 
But who gave you that name ? " Radstock then recognized 
that even his earthly preferment came from the hand of God, 
and offered no further objection. 1 Cor., xiii, 3, 4: 



90 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though 
I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it protit- 
eth me nothing. Charity suffereth long and is kind, etc." 
We must have love to men. When we hear men blaspheme, 
we feel like fighting them, but we must keep down such feel- 
ings, and love what Christ loves. Drunken Sandie, in Edin- 
burgh, said: "Why do the Christians talk so kindly?" He 
was converted. 2 Tim., i, 13: " Hold fast the form of sound 
words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which 
is in Christ Jesus." We are to use God's Word in dealing 
with cavilers, and not depend upon the resources of our 
reason. Acts, xx\i, 22, 23: " Having therefore obtained help 
of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small 
and great, saying none other things than those which the 
prophets and Moses did say should come : That Christ should 
suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from 
the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the 
Gentiles." We are to preach nothing but Christ crucified. 

Dr. Bonar said : In Habakkuk, iii, 4, we find that Christ 
is spoken of as having horns coming out of His hand. 
Horns symbolized power. Thus all power is in His hands. 
In Matt,,xiv, 16, we find that this power was exerted quietly. 
Jesus fed the multitude, as He did all His great miracles, 
in quiet majesty. And we need to notice that Jesus always 
works in the power of the Spirit. Look at Gideon, Sam- 
son and Elijah, " The Spirit of the Lord " came upon them. 
Any man, whether educated or not, may be chosen by God 
and endued with this power. God sometimes chooses even 
the weakest things of earth to work for Him. 

Dr. Pentecost referred to the insulation of a telegraph 
wire as an illustration of the necessity of our being sep- 
arated from the world before God's message to sinners can 
have free course through us. When Saladin looked at the 



CONSECRATION FOR SERVICE. 



91 



sword of Bichard Coeur de Leon, he wondered that a blade 
so ordinary should have wrought such mighty deeds. The 
English king bared his arm, and said, "It was not the sword 
that did these things; it was the arm of Eichard." In like 
manner we should be instruments that the Lord can use, 
and when He has used us, the glory should all be His. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

DISCOUKSE BY DK. BONAE PERSONALITY AND GODHEAD OF THE 

SPIRIT HIS AMAZING LOVE HIS SILENT WORK THE REVE- 
LATION OF HIM IN THE SCRIPTURES IN CONNECTION WITH CHRIST 
DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS CONCERNING HIM. 

Dr. Bonar said: The subject of the Holy Spirit is a 
very laige one, and you are to understand that anything said 
upon particular points is just a sample of what might be 
said. We will only take a few things in each particular. 
I want to begin by asking every one here: "Can you say 
you personally, individually, love the Holy Ghost, with grate- 
ful affection ? Do you sometimes meditate upon Him, and 
find your heart melted as you think of what He has done for 
us ? " I want to ask your attention to this fact: the person- 
ality and Godhead of the Spirit. Some persons — some 
Christians — ^have a way of speaking about the Spirit that 
ought to be abandoned altogether. They speak of Him as " it," 
" it; " and they speak of Him as an influence, as if that were 
all. I believe the unfortunate way in which two verses in the 
8th of Romans are translated has led to this. One verse is: 
" The Spirit itself beareth witness." It ought to have 
been, " The Spirit Himself." In the same way, in the 27th 
verse, " The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us." It 
ought to have been, "The Spirit Himself." I don't know 
any translator that would have the least hesitation in saying 

(9^) 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



93 



that that ought to have been so; and I fear this mistransla- 
tion has misled some — led them into the phraseology of 
speaking about the Spirit in that indefinite way. Now, the 
Spirit is not an influence; He is a person. He is not a 
beam; He is a sun. He is the Great Sun from whom all 
beams come. He is not a stream; He is the great ocean of 
light. The personality of the Holy Spirit we ought to keep 
in mind and dwell upon. If you want just to get a confirm- 
ing view of it, you may do so very easily. If you look in 
the Acts of the Apostles, you find, for example, what the Holy 
Spirit there says to Philip, when in the presence of the 
•-Ethiopian eunuch: "The Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, 
and join thyself to this chariot,"— Acts, viii, 29. In the 
same chapter, 39th verse, we read: "When they were 
come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught 
away Philip." The personality of the Spirit you see there 
most distinctly. It is a person dealing with a person — a 
person speaking to a person — the spirit speaking to the 
person Philip. Then again, in the 10th chapter, when 
Peter had got his remarkable vision, and was musing on the 
application of it, it is expressly said, verse 19: " The Spirit 
said to him. Behold three men seek thee. " And when he is 
telling this three days after, he takes care not to omit that 
truth, that the Spirit bade him go, nothing doubting. In 
the 13th chapter of Acts, while the church at Antioch was 
going on prosperously, the Holy Ghost said: " Separate me 
Barnabas and PauL" There is the voice of a King; not 
only of a person, but of a King with authority. " Separate 
me Barnabas and Paul." And they, " being sent forth by 
the Holy Ghost," went. Once more, in the 16th chapter, 
you see His personality in this remarkable way : When Paul 
and his friends wished to go to a certain place, they were 
forbidden by the Holy Ghost. They were not to preach the 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Word in Asia; neither of them was to have that privilege. 
Again, in the same chapter, they wished to go to Bithynia, 
but "the Spirit suffered them not." Now, that is just a 
handful gleaned from one book. You see here His person- 
ality, and you can get examples a hundred fold. Then His 
Godhead. If He is a person, then He is no other than God. 
He cannot be anything else. Now, from the beginning to 
the end of Scripture, what do you find? Take Him in His 
creative power. See Gen,, i, 2: " The Spirit of God moved 
upon the face of the waters." The Spirit of God moved 
upon that great waste. What was the effect of this ? He 
so wrought in His divine power upon those materials that 
when God said, " Let there be light," immediately light filled 
the globe. That was the work of the Spirit. And then 
again. Job speaks about the Holy Spirit. In the 26th chap- 
ter, Job is pointing to the sky, and he says, " By His Spirit 
He has garnished the heavens. His hand formed the crooked 
serpents." He is pointing to the constellations of the sky, 
and saying, "What a beautiful sky! Who made it? By 
His Spirit He has garnished the heavens." It was He who 
adorned it; He gave it its beautiful ornamentation; and 
every time we look up at the sky to admire a beautiful sun- 
set, or the hosts of billiant stars that light up the night, we 
should remember " the Creator Spirit by whose aid the world's 
foundations first were laid." Then look in the 33d chapter 
of Job and the 4th verse. Here Elihu, the friend of Job, 
says: " The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of 
the Almighty hath given me life." Then see the 104th 
Psalm, where David speaks of the wonderful works of God: 
" Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created; and Thou 
renewest the face of the earth." You should never see the 
wondrous beauty of the spring after winter without feeling 
that it is by the Spirit that God has done all this. By the 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



95 



Spirit He every season garnishes the earth below, as He 
garnishes the Heaven above. This is a sample of what is 
said about Him as the Creator, and a sample of His equality 
with the other persons of the Godhead. In another way, 
you know, the Father is the Creator, and Christ is the 
Creator too. In John we read concerning Christ: "For 
without Him was not anything made that was made;" and 
unless a man obstinately shuts his eyes, how can he fail to 
see the Divine Creator in the person of Christ? Well, He 
speaks to the Spirit as His equal ; for, writing to the seven 
churches of Asia, in the 2d chapter of Eevelation, at the end 
of every letter that Christ writes, I may say He puts a post- 
script, and the postscript is : " He that hath ears to hear, let 
him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." Do you 
think Christ would take one inferior to Himself and say to 
the church at Ephesus, " Listen to what this person says ? " 
No; He calls in His authority as equal with His own, and 
says to Ephesus: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear 
what the Spirit saith." To, Smyrna it is just the same; and 
so on to all the seven churches. Now, that is a sample of 
what is said of Him in His Godhead; and I sometimes think 
that awful passage in the Gospels makes this clearer and 
clearer: "All manner of sin and blasphemy may be forgiven 
unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall 
not be forgiven." You know that is a dark passage, but it 
is one that is quite light upon this, that the Holy Spirit is 
divine, and Christ cannot allow His divinity to be touched. 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost are God — three persons in one 
Godhead, the same in substance, equal in power and glory, 
and equal in love. Now, I pass from this, but keep in mind 
the Spirit's being Himself divine, and that, being thus 
divine, all blessing — spiritual blessing — is conveyed by Him. 
I often think of four lines of a hymn I once learned : 



96 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



" And every grace that we possess, 
And every victory won, 
And every thought of holiness. 
Is His alone." 

My next remark, then, is: Look at His amazing love. 
Behold, what manner of love in the beloved Son; behold 
what manner of love in the Father; but I call upon you, 
Chistian friends, to behold what manner of love in the Holy 
Ghost. Do you know He wrote this Bible — every line of 
it? What Peter calls the word of prophecy — that is, the 
word written by prophets or the teachers %at God raised up 
— was not a matter of private interpretation; it was not 
private, individual men that wrote out that Word and gave 
it to the world, but " holy men of God spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost." "As they were moved by the 
Holy Ghost! " This book is all written by the Holy Ghost. 
What a o^ift He has ffivenus! All this Bible! There is not 
a line in it of which I may not say, " This line is wet with 
the dew of His love." Oh, when you take up yom' Bible^ 
think of this — think of the Spirit's love in writing this to 
you; and think how He likes to join you when you are read- 
ing it, and to speak it to your heart again. See His amaz- 
ing love ever in that. But supposing we look at it still 
more, in this way. I want you to notice His amazing love 
in this: There has never been a sinner since the day that 
Adam fell, awakened and brought to salvation but by the 
agency of the Holy Ghost. He has awakened every sinner^ 
and led every sinner to the Savior that has been saved. He 
has united every sinner that has been united to Christ. He 
has done it! Age after age, thousands up jn thousands; and 
He is not weary yet. Fellow- sinner, if you are unsaved. He 
is ready to-day so to deal with you, for He is full of love. 
We wonder at Christ's patient life at Nazareth. Believer, 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



•97 



do you never dwell on the patient life of the Holy Ghost in 
that heart of yours? Oh, how that heart has grieved and 
vexed Him! He cannot do many mighty works because of 
your unbelief; and yet He will not desert you. He will 
abide with you forever and forever. Such is His love to 
you. What should you be to Him! Another thing: you 
know His work is a silent work. We have a word in the- 
ology — we say, in the economy of redemption, it was ar- 
ranged by the three persons of the Godhead that while the 
Son did that work assigned Him, the Spirit's work was to be 
of the nature referred to, but He was to do so in a silent 
way. The Spirit was to work unseen and silent. He was 
to be like the wind. You. cannot see it, but the effects of it 
you can see plainly. The Spirit has all along, in the most 
wondroas kindness, consented — if I may use 'the expression 
— to be thus hid while doing His work. No jealousy of the 
Son; no jealousy of the Father. He delights to take of the 
things of Christ and show them to us, and because they are 
the things of the Father, too. But He does it all quietly — 
so silently and quietly that very generally a soul is brought 
to Christ without thinking very much aboat the Spirit, and 
it is only afterward that the soul says, " Well, I never would 
have known this but for the Spirit. It was He that took the 
scales from my eyes," Isn't there amazing love in this? 
And then this will explain what we sometimes find cast up 
to us as an objection — " You speak of fellowship with the 
Father and the Son; why not with the Spirit?" In the 
economy of grace the Spirit says, " Let Me bring you into 
fellowship with the Father and the Son. Let Me sustain 
that relationship, while I remain in a manner hid, quiet, 
silent." It is just His exceeding love that leads to this. 
Not that He is absent from that fellowship — not that He is 
not present; quite the contrary; but that He is so occupied 



98 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



in showing us the Father and the Son that He hides Him- 
self. And so yon find continually in the book of Eevelation 
it is " God and the Lamb," without specifying the Spirit. 
His love in this matter is amazing. And then you know, 
believer, how ready He is to breathe upon you when you ask 
Him. If I were to use, by accommodation, a word we use 
to one another, I should say, there is not a more obliging 
being in the universe — there is not one who will do a serv- 
ice for you so readily as the Holy Spirit. He will brood 
over you and breathe upon you when you cry in the name 
of Christ. And He does it so gently. He does it so softly. 
He does it so lovingly. Aren't you ashamed of having over- 
looked His love ? that He is so little adored and honored ? 
Let us to-day adore and honor and love Him more when we 
find He comes among us in mighty power. Then I wish 
you to notice this: In the revealing of the Spirit in the 
Bible — it is very beautiful, and I want you to notice it — I 
will just give you a few examples of it — that He is revealed 
very much in connection with Christ. That is to say, when- 
ever anything about Christ comes on the scene, you may look 
about — the Spirit is not far away. He hovers over Christ 
just as He hovered over Him in the baptism: Take the flood 
of Noah — I think I see Him there. Here is a grand type of 
Christ — Noah's ark. Nothing about the Spirit? Ah, yes- 
"My Spirit shall not always strive with men." Then Peter, 
speaking of Christ, says Christ by His Spirit in Noah, 
preached to those men before the flood, who were indeed 
shut up in the prison of hell. The Spirit was there. But 
we go on to quite clear cases. The tabernacle was set up, 
and as soon as you hear of the tabernacle and all its types, 
you hear: "I have filled Bezaleel and Ahalial with the 
Spirit of God, in wisdom, that they may be able to do their 
work without failure." Then in the camp, when Moses is 



THE BOLY SPIRIT. 



99 



greatly burdened with the people — iVJoses, who is always 
moving about among sacrifices and types of Christ — God 
takes of the same Spirit that was given to Moses, and gives 
a portion to seventy elders to help him in his work. Well, 
we go on, taking just samples, and we come to the Psalms. 
David says a great deal of the Savior. You all know the 
passage in the 22d Psalm: " My God, my God ! why hast 
Thou forsaken me? " And the 69th Psalm, where it speaks 
of the gall and vinegar. And the 110th Psalm: " Sit thou 
at My right hand," speaking of David's Lord, as well as of 
David's son. Is there much about the Spirit, then, in the 
Psalms ? Oh, yes. As David says a great deal about Christ, 
so he says a great deal about the Spirit. Take at first the 
51st Psalm: " Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me ; " "Uphold 
me with Thy free Spirit." Then the 143d Psalm: "Thy 
Spirit is good (loving); lead me into the land of upright- 
ness." The 139th Psalm: " Whither shall I go from Thy 
Spirit? " Then you come to Isaiah; there you see it fully. 
Isaiah abounds in references to Christ, and in references to 
the Spirit. See the 11th chapter: " There shall come forth 
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the Spirit of the Lord 
shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and under- 
standing; the spirit of counsel and might; the spirit of 
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Or take the 
61st chapter — Chi'ist is proclaiming himself; He says : 
The Spirit — the Spirit of Jehovah is upon Me. It rests 
in Me. For He hath anointed Me to preach good tidings." 
If we take Zechariah in the same way, we have clear dis- 
coveries of Christ: we have Him set forth as the Foundation 
Stone; we have Him set forth as the Man whose name is 
The Branch. Wondi'ous prophecy! Hear the voice of the 
Father saying: "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, 
and against the Man that is My Fellow." Is there much 



100 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



about the Spirit in Zediariah ? Look, and you will see a 
very great deal, and especially as we come near the end. 
You know that passage — speaking of what God is to do in 
the latter days: "I will pour out upon the house of David, 
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace 
and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom 
they have pierced, and they shall mourn." And, dear 
friends, look in Ezekiel. Szekiel has two or three remarka- 
ble passages about the Savior. One is this: It is in the 34th 
chapter, and again m the 37th chapter: "I will set up one 
Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My serv- 
ant David.' And then again : " I will raise ap for them a 
plant of renown. Well, do you see anything correspond- 
ingly about the Spirit? Yes; you have two of the grandest 
illustrations of the Spirit that the Word of God gives us. 
" Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon 
these slain, that they may live." The breath from the four 
winds is the Spirit — the Spirit of Life entering into the dead. 
This is in the 37th chapter. And in the 47th chapter, you 
have that beautiful and memorable type — the river from the 
temple. I have no cloubt that there is a literal meaning in 
it, but there is a spiritual meaning at the same time. The 
figure is this: There is a river flows fi'om the temple just 
where the altar stands, as if the altar must clear a channel 
for the river flowing, and then the river flows out. At first, 
it rises only to the ankle; -then it comes up further to the 
knees; then it is to the waist; then it is a broad, deep 
river, that a man could swim in. Well, there is a picture 
here. I believe there is a reality in it. I believe we shall 
see the day when from J erusalem shall flow a river that shall 
bring new life to the Dead Sea, and change the face of the 
land. But here is a grand type — how from Christ the Altar 
Sacrifice, the Spirit flows — flows further and further, till it 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



101 



goes forth to all the earth. It is He that is to quicken the 
dead. It is He that is to bring life to dead churches and 
dead souls. It is this Biver of Life from God that is to do 
this; and then what beauteous foliage will be on the banks, 
and what luxuriant fruit, and what fragrance in every leaf, 
when He is there! But now I pass on to the New Testa- 
ment, and take a sample of what is said about the Spirit in 
regard to Christ's person. For I think it involves a very 
great deal. When God the Son was so become incarnate, a 
body was prepared for Him. Not created out of nothing, 
but, like Eve, taken out of Adam, so God was to take out of 
Mary the material, so to speak, of His humanity. The angel 
said to her: " The Holy Ghost shall come Upon thee, and 
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." It was 
by the Holy Ghost that Christ's human body was formed, 
the body that the Father prepared for Him. That I under- 
stand to have been the most wondrous work of the Holy 
Ghost that He ever hath shown or ever will show. AATien 
the human body, and soul, of Christ — for the soul, too, was 
formed by Him — when that human body and soul shall yet 
be seen in all its glory, I suppose there is not a body in all 
the universe that will eno^aofe om' attention like to this — the 
beauty of the mau Christ Jesus — divinity joined with man- 
hood. Well, you have noticed, dear fi'iends, that, when 
Christ went forth to His ministry. He always spoke of doing 
what He did by the Holy Ghost. He was led by the Spirit 
to be tempted of the Devil. He came out fi'om the wilder- 
ness in the power of the Spirit. And you have noticed that 
He said, one time: By the Spirit of God I cast out devils." 
He is represented as doing His miracles by the Spirit, 
whereas He might have drawn on the resources of His own 
person alone. There was a reason for always drawing on the 
Holy Spirit — a twofold reason. I think one reason was 



• 



102 GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 

this — it is interesting to believers to notice it: As members 
of His body, thev are to be in this way enabled for their 
work, and upheld and led through all their difficulties; and 
so the Head takes this way. It pleased Him to take this 
way, calling in always the aid of the Spirit. But there 
was another reason, namely, this: The Holy Spirit seems 
to have wished to show, at every step, that there was 
not a work Christ did, nor a word Christ spoke, nor a 
tear Christ shed, but He sympathized in it all. He went 
with the Redeemer into it all. It was the work of the 
Father, Son and Spirit that was going on; and the Spirit 
takes this part, to bring out a testimony of that. And I 
cannot but think there is a wonderful meaning, including 
both these reasons, in that passage of Heb., ix, 14, when 
Christ's death is spoken of: " Who by the eternal Spirit 
offered Himself without spot to God." " By the eternal 
Spirit He offered Himself to Grod without spot." It seems 
to tell us this: that the humanity of Christ was upheld in 
that awful hour by the Holy Spirit —His body amidst its 
agonies, and His agonized soul in its weakness. And if so, 
it not only shows the amazing love of the Spirit in thus tend- 
erly watching over our Christ, our Redeemer, that He might 
without fail, without spot, present the sacrifice to the Father; 
but it teaches that the members of His body may expect, 
when they are dying, to find the same Spirit upholding them 
body and soul. Oh, every view you take of the Holy Spirit's 
work is full of wondrous meaning and suggestion. But I 
draw to a close without having come to the Epistles, for 
they are an inexhaustible mine of references to the Spirit. 
The indwelling of the Spirit you have there, the Spirit the 
earnest of the inheritance, the Spirit the real, the Spirit in 
other ways. Besides, we have passed over Christ's account 
of the Spirit the Comforter — the Spirit of truth, who shall 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



103 



lead you into all truth — the Spirit who convinces the world 
of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness to come. He was 
glorified by Christ. All these passages you will search out 
for youj'selves. I draw to a close by reminding you that in the 
book of Revelation, whenever there is an opportunity, a fit- 
ting occasion, you have the Spirit coming into view. Isn't 
this very beautiful, believers ? " And I heard a voice from 
Heaven, saying. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." 
And immediately a voice is heard, "Yea, saith the Spirit." 
The Father, looking to those that die in Christ, says: 
"Blessed are they;" and the Spirit says: " Yea, their works 
do follow them (come up here)." And then in the last 
chapter of Revelation — the last chapter of the Bible— see 
how the Spirit is waiting for our complete joy, waiting along 
with us for the hour when we shall be glorified; for that is 
the meaning of the first clause of the 17th verse — " The 
Spirit and the Bride say, Come." The Spirit and the Bride 
say, " Come, Lord." And the Spirit and the Bride also say, 
" Whoever hears, take up the cry, ' Come, come, Lord Jesus; ' 
and while you do this, look around upon a perishing world,, 
and tell them to make haste and come to Christ. Tell them 
not to lose their opportunity of such blessedness. Let him 
that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the 
water of life freely." These are the Spirit's last words, and 
aren't they full of love — full of grace ? Do you not see His- 
heart flowing out to us in every syllable ? 



CHAPTER XV. 



SPECIAL ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE. 

MK. MOODY AND DR. BONAR QUESTIONED — WHAT THE ENDUEMENT 

IS EVERY CHRISTIAN IN NEED OF IT ITS FREQUENT RENEWAL 

TO BE SOUGHT — NO EFFECTIVE WORK WITHOUT IT. 

In the evening of the day upon whicli the foregoing 
address was delivered, Mr. Moody asked those present to 
give texts concerning the Holy Spirit. Many did so. 

A gentleman asked Dr. Bonar to explain the distinction 
between the indwelling of the Spirit in every believer which 
was const £tot, and the special gift of the Holy Spirit upon 
us for service. 

Dr. Bonar said that the Holy Spirit entered the believer 
and made His home with him at the time of conversion, but 
that undoubtedly there might come a deeper work of the 
Spirit at any time afterward. This might be very marked. 
The Apostles sought a special supply of the Spirit for the 
work before them, and had to do so again and again, and 
every Christian engaged in the work of the Lord should 
seek this special enduement for service. The difference 
between the indwelling of the Spirit and the special gift for 
service was but one of quantity. The former, however, was 
constant — that is, the Spirit always dwells in the believer's 
heart, however little room may be made for him there; 
while the latter was variable. If we want power with us in 
our work, we must never engage in it without seeking to be 
filled with the Holy Ghost. 

(104) 



SPECIAL ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE. 



105 



A lady asked if only ministers and evangelists were to 
expect this special enduement. 

Dr. Bonar said that a mother needed it for the proper 
up-bringing of her family. 

Mr. Moody remarked that a mother with eleven children 
needed it more than preachers. This subject, he said, of 
the special enduement of the Holy Spirit for service was a 
very important one, and one that needed to be better under- 
4 stood by Christians generally. 

While Mr. Moody was on his feet, a torrent of questions 
came to him, the more important of which, with the answers, 
were the following: 

Q. How is a man to know whether he is called and 
anointed to preach ? A. Go oat to preach and watch the 
results. If the people go to sleep, then you are not called. 
A man might go through forty seminaries and yet not be 
called to preach. "We are to look for fruit. If there is no 
fruit, then you are not sent. I pity the man who preaches 
year after year without fruit. " Herein is my father glori- 
fied that ye bring forth much fruit." 

Q. Are we not helped by the Spirit testifying to us of 
the things of Christ? A. Yes; and we need the power that 
it gives us. Sin leaped into the world full-grown at the 
first leap. Without the power of God we can do nothing. 
When we enter the pulpit we want to know that we have got 
the witness of the Spirit along with us. 

Q. How are we to know when to expect a revival ? A. 
If you wait for a revival and do nothing you will never get 
it. Talk about set times for revivals. The set time is when 
we are ready to go to work. Talk about leanness. I believe 
it is laziness 

Q. Suppose a man has been laboring for twenty years 
without fruit, and yet every one says he is a very good man, 

G 



106 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



and is in the right occupation ? A. Well, suppose you saw 
a tree out there in the field, and some one told you: "That 
tree has not borne anything for twenty years, and yet it is 
a grand old tree." 

Q. Suppose a tree bore every other year ? A. That is 
better; but I like to see a tree bearing all the time. They 
say that when you look at a lemon tree, you can see fruit in 
all stages of growth, and you can get ripe lemons every 
month in the year. Let us be like the lemon tree. Men 
that deal in oranges say that the best oranges from Florida 
or California come from those trees that send a tap-root 
forty feet down into the ground. Trees that send down the 
root only ten or twenty feet have oranges that are not so 
good. When a tree sends down its tap-root so far as to 
strike water, its fruit is delicious. So with the Christian. 
He has a hidden source of life that the world knows nothing 
about, and the more he receives of that life, the more and 
better fruit he will bring forth. 

Q. How are we to know when we have the Spirit upon 
us for service? A. Haven't you ever preached and found it 
hard work — like hard pumping without bringing any water ? 
Though you love to preach the Gospel, and it is easy and 
delightful most of the time, yet haven't you sometimes 
found it hard work? I have, though not lately. The 
trouble is we often preach on the strength of old expe- 
riences. If I were to be all the time telling how I loved 
my wife when I first married her, that would reflect on her, 
wouldn't it? But if a man has been for twenty years culti- 
vating an acquaintance with Christ, he will have a richer 
experience than he had twenty years ago, won't he? He 
will have a new testimony all the time. He will have free- 
dom in speaking. It is hard to preach without a fresh sup- 
ply of the Spirit. That is why so many ministers have 



SPECIAL ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE. 



107 



hard work getting up their sermons. Many men use the 
Bible as a repository of texts, and preach about everything 
else — go up among the stars, off among the rocks, down 
into the bed of the sea, everywhere. They take a text, and 
then preach from it — away from it. 

Q. How do you know that your elation in preaching may 
not be due to animal spirits mostly? Sometimes you are 
very happy in preaching, and have great facility, but it 
may be due to the consciousness of success attending your 
preaching? A. If the Spirit of God does not accompany 
the words, there isn't any conviction produced. 

Q. Do you experience fluctuations in the supply of the 
Spirit now ? A. No, sir ; not so much as I used to. 

Q. Doesn't your joy come from a sense that your mes- 
sage has been received ? A. That is one thing, but there is 
something better than that. It is the communion you have 
with God. 

Q. Suppose you have reason to know that the message 
has not been received by any? A. That I don't know. I 
hope I say it with humility — I don't know of a sermon I 
preach that I don't hear oi something. Some one will 
receive the message. If you have a church, get a band of 
persons around you that are living near to God and they 
will receive the word. Some will get good, if the church is 
what it ought to be. 

Q. Did not Christ preach without fruit ? A. I can't con- 
ceive of such a thing. Why, every word He uttered is bear- 
ing fruit now. 

Q. Suppose a man has been preaching for twenty years 
without seeing visible evidences of success? A. Well, 
really, I don't like to hear so many people apologizing for 
that man that has been preaching for twenty years without 
fruit. 



108 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD, 



Q. Suppose your work is done tiirougli print, and you 
don't see the results? A. All. that is a different thing. 
But even then you do know of results. You heard here 
the other evening a man telling how he was converted 
through reading my sermons in your paper in New York 
while I was in London. And don't you get letters from all 
over the country telling of results? I don't think you 
would go on for twenty years if you didn't know of 
any results. I guess you would close up in two or three 
years. 

Q. What about those missionaries abroad who work for 
years without results ? A. I am not talking no^ about the 
foreign field. It takes years sometimes for a missionary to 
learn the language. I am talking about us here in America. 

Q. Is not a great deal of this due to our habit of preach 
ing the Word, and then taking no steps to gather up the 
results? A. Yes; a great many men never draw the net — 
never pull it in and see if they have caught anything. 

Q. How can we tell what time to watch for results? A. 
If the Spirit of God is in a man, he won't need any one to 
tell him about that. If the Spirit has wounded any one in 
that congregation, he'll know it. 

Q. Should every one look for results? A. Yes; every 
man that has got a clean record behind him. 

Q. Should we draw the net every night? A. Well, I 
wouldn't say that. Preach the Word first in the power of 
the Spirit, and the Spirit will tell you when to begin draw- 
ing the net. It doesn't help a meeting to follow it up 
every night by trying to get people to rise for prayer. 
Sometimes this becomes formal. It is a good thing to keep 
things from getting into a rut. 

Q. "One soweth and another reapeth." AVhat does that 
mean? A. What would you think of a farmer who never 



SPECIAL ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE. 



109 



looked for a harvest? Others may gather from our sowing, 
but we are to gather something from our own sowing. 

Q. An oak tree takes fifty years to grow. A. Well ; and 
would you wait fifty years without a harvest of some kind? 
Some fruit may be longer in coming, and other fruit quicker. 
Certainly we do not look for results as much as we ought. 
I believe we ought to sow with one hand and reap with the 
other. 

Q. Should the reaping be as public as the sowing? A. 
That depends on circumstances. Some people you have to 
take alone and quietly. 

Q. Suppose you cast the net and fail to draw anything? 
A. I never would fail. I never failed but twice for ten 
years. And this is why. Sometimes those around me 
would say: "This is the time." But, with the Spirit guid- 
ing me, I knew it wasn't the time. You do harm by trying 
to get people into the inquiry-room before the time. When 
the time comes, the people will show it by rising for prayer 
or something. If the Spirit of God testifies to the Word, 
you will see something in the audience that shows the effect, 
and the Spirit will give you discernment to know the effect 
when you see it. 

Q. Do you experience special power when you are 
engaged in special services ? A. No, sir ; I do not. I think 
I have as much power to-night as when I am in the heat of 
the battle. 

Q. "Do we not have to seek a renewal of the supply of the- 
Holy Spirit for service from time to time ? Do we not some- 
times lose power without Him, and then have to seek a fresh 
supply ? A. Yes ; we are very leaky vessels. We want to keep 
under the fountain all the time; then we will be kept full. 

Q. Suppose a man tells you that the Spirit of God has 
told him to come and work in your church? A. That 



110 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



always sends a chill through me. It disgusts me. The 
questioner — That was the effect with me. The man, when 
he found he couldn't work in our place, said the Spirit called 
him away; and we all thought he was right that time. 
(Laughter.) 

Q. (By a lady.) Suppose, when working in the inquiry- 
room, you are successful in leading souls to Christ, should 
you look upon those results as yours ? A. You can't always 
tell. Perhaps there was some mother or sister praying for 
that soul that yielded. Evangelists get credit for results 
often where others did the sowing. I remember preaching 
in Liverpool in a certain church, and the results were aston- 
ishing. In ten days that church took in 400 new members. 
I was amazed. But I learned that a poor, old, bed-ridden 
saint had been praying about it, She had prayed that I 
might be sent to that church. Her sister came in one day 
and said that an evangelist was preaching in the church. 
"Who is it?" "Mr. Moody, of Chicago." The praying 
saint was not at all sm^prised. And while I was working 
there she was praying. Until I knew this I wondered why 
the people were so ready to respond to my appeals. I 
thought they must misunderstand me, and took care that 
they should know clearly what I wanted. Even then their 
readiness to rise for prayer and go into the inquiry-room 
puzzled me. Bat when I learned that that old saint had 
been wrestling with God for the work, I understood it all. 
Her prayers were the cause of the success I had. I have no 
sort of doubt about that. When we get into the other world, 
and find out the secrets of heaven, we will find that some 
people we never hear of now — some bed-ridden saint, some 
one living way up near the gates of paradise — will have 
accomplished a great deal more than some men who have 
been heralded through the press. 



SPECIAL ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE. 



Ill 



Mr. Morgaa, of London, said that he had in his pocket 
a message from that very church in Liverpool. The good 
work is going on still, and workingmen are being saved all 
through the neighborhood. 

Mr. Sankey — I remember, Mr. Moody, that when we 
were in York, although you preached with as much earnest- 
ness and apparent effectiveness as anywhere, yet there were 
only a few people to hear you, and it was a long time before 
any results were evident. A. Yes; and I remember that 
you wanted to go home to America because the sun didn't 
go down at a reasonable hour. (Laughter.) The trouble in 
York was that the church people were not interested, and 
didn't care. But you remember that when there were only 
two or three hundred persons at our meeting, we went to 
work on them, and they told otliers, and then the meetings 
became crowded. As soon as the church people got inter- 
ested, the blessing came. 

Mr. Sankey — Christ Himself could not do many mighty 
works in some places because of their unbelief. A. That is 
true; and when people will not hear oiu' words we are to go 
somewhere else. 

Q. Are the results we are to look for only the conversion 
of souls, or are there other results ? A. Certainly there are 
other results. Some people think they have no blessing 
unless they see the conversion of souls. But it is a great 
thing to get a church stirred. I think if I was a settled 
pastor I would reach the unconverted as a general thing, 
through the church. There isn't any agency on earth so 
powerful as a quickened church. But if the minister does 
all the preaching and nearly all the praying, and all the vis- 
iting, he hasn't got much of a church after all. If he is 
sick or taken away, the whole thing goes down. What he 
wants is to go through the church, and get the church 



112 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



waked up and working, and then whether he is there or not, 
the thing will go on. 

Q. When are we to expect this power for service? 
Haven't we first to be in the school of Christ for some little 
time? A. I think it came on Paul the day he met Christ 
on the way to Damascus. 

Dr. Bonar — Both gifts came upon St. Paul at once — the 
indwelling of the Holy Ghost and the enduement for service. 
This was so with Paul, but individuals have different expe- 
riences in that regard. Often the enduement comes later 
than conversion, because it is not sought at the time of con- 
version. 

Q. Are we to look around us in the church for a rain- 
tree? A. Be a rain-tree yourself. Some people settle down 
and think they cannot do anything until the church is 
quickened. I tell you we can't wait for that. If I am a 
member of a church I have got to act as if I was the only 
man to act. I have got to give an account for myself; and 
if I can't get the church with me, then I am to go into some 
mission district or side street, and hire a place, if it is only 
some old attic, and get some people in there. I have passed 
through some experiences of this kind. I once tried to 
raise a church to a sense of its responsibility. I talked to 
the members about it, but they buttoned up their coats and 
thought I was out of my mind. Then I went into one of the 
dark streets of Chicago, into an old garret, with only an old 
tallow candle to see by, and a drunkard and his wife and 
child to hear me; but out of that grew the church we have 
got now in Chicago. You have got but one life to live. If 
you can do anything in your church, go into some district 
and start a cottage prayer-meeting or something of that 
kind. Get a few families together. Or talk to some woman 
at the wash-tub. Let her hear you while she is washing. 



SPECIAL ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE. 



US 



Get a few people filled with the love of God, and you will 
have an interest all around. Wherever you find a Christian 
anxious for souls, you will find souls anxious for eternal wel- 
fare. 

Q. (By a lady.) What stress do you place on prepara- 
tion ? A. Go to work at once, and the preparation will come 
while the work goes on. That is the only way to find out 
what kind of work you are fitted for. That is how God lets 
us know what kind of work He wants us to do. A great 
many men come to me wanting positions that God never 
intended them to fill. God has a niche for every one of 
His children. Happy the man or woman that has found his 
or her place. A great many men want to do big things. 
That is the mistake I made when I started out. I wanted 
to preach to intelligent people; but what I said wasn't 
according to the Spirit of God or anything else, for the peo- 
ple didn't like to hear me. So I began with the children. 
They liked to hear me, and I got along very well; and I 
grew right up along with them. But it was years before I 
could talk profitably to grown people. I talked to the chil- 
dren, and it was a grand school. It was the preparation I 
needed. That was my theological seminary. 

Q. How are we to know our need of the Spirit. A. A 
man that is used to good living is most keenly affected by 
meager fare. A man accustomed to his liberty will begin 
to cry out the moment he is in the slightest degree fettered. 
Those that have most of the Spirit are the most hungry for 
more. The trouble is, some of us get so busy we forget to 
be constantly seeking a new supply, and then we lose our 
sense of the want of it. An hour alone with God isn't lost 
time. 

Q. How can you tell whether a certain purpose in your 
mind is your will or the will of the Spirit. A. Well; one 



114 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



of the fruits of the Spirit is submissiveness — readiness to 
do anything the Spirit bids you. With that will come a 
greater perception of what the Spirit wants. If a man 
isn't willing to do little things for the Lord, he will never 
be prompted to do big things. I don't believe God would 
ever have used me if I hadn't gone down among those dirty, 
ragged children. I believe God called me to that work and 
placed me in it, and then I think He advanced me. 

Q. Are we always to expect a very marked experience in 
this second blessing? A. Well, I wouldn't call it a second 
blessing, for we have a third, and a fourth, and a twentieth 
blessing. If there is anything more for me I want to get it. 

Q. Are we to cease working, and wait until we get this 
anointing? A. Oh, no. The disciples, it is true, tarried at 
Jerusalem, and waited, without doing anything else, but let 
us remember that then the Spirit had not come at all. Now 
the Spirit is come, and the case is different. If you want 
the anointing for service go on with your work, and wait for 
it while you are working. 

Q. Ought a man to enter the ministry who has not expe- 
rienced this anointing for service? A. Ministers and all 
the rest of us that are God's children need the anointing; 
doctors and carpenters and farmers need it. A man should 
not enter the ministry unless he feels a special call to do so. 
A man shouldn't enter the ministry because he has failed 
in everything else. He shouldn't enter it as he would enter 
one of the professions. The ministry is not a profession; 
it is a work. As Spurgeon says, no one should preach 
unless he feels that he is obliged to — that he must do it. 
Then the anointing will come if he seeks it. But the meet- 
ing has run on long past the closing hour. I didn't expect 
this catechizing. It is nearly 10 o'clock, and we must close. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



QUESTIONS ON THE SBIRIT. 

DB. BONAR INTEEEOGATED " WAITING " FOR ENDUEMENT WITHOUT 

SUSPENDING WOEK ONLY THE PEEACHING OF CHEIST BLESSED 

BY THE SPIEIT THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST EXPLA- 
NATION OF THE TEEMS, GEIEVING, SLIGHTING, QUENCHING, 

RESISTING SPIEITUALISM DUTY OF BELIEVEES TO PRAY TO 

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIEIT. 

The next afternoon, Mr. Moody said: You will find that 
a great deal of Christ's teaching was the answering of ques- 
tions. You will find that the scribes and Pharisees were 
constantly coming to Him and asking Him questions, and 
He answered them. You will find also that His disciples 
were constantly asking questions, and I sometimes think 
that we ouo^ht to have more of that kind of teachino^. You 
sometimes hear a minister preach and feel that you would 
like to ask him questions, which, at the right time and place, 
he would be glad to answer. Now this afternoon I want to 
take Dr. Bonar and put him into the witness-box. A great 
many questions have been asked on the subject we had yes- 
terday and last night, and I have got them down on paper. 
If you want to ask any questions, write them down and send 
them to me. Now, Dr. Bonar, we were talking last night 
about power, and the question is asked, How shall we wait 
for it? 

Dr. Bonar — The first remark upon that I would like to 

make is that the passage, " Tarry ye in the city of Jerusa- 

(115) 



116 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



lem till ye receive power from on high," has nothing to do 
with it. They were literally to sit down and wait till they 
were endued with power from on high. There was a rea- 
son for that in their case. But in our case, what is waiting? 
Waiting in our case is not sitting still. It never means sit- 
ting still, or folding our hands and saying, "God must make 
the first advance toward me." That is not the meaning of 
waiting. " Waiting on God " — or which is the same thing 
— waiting for God, occurs often in the prophets. In the 
IBOfch Psalm you have it: "I wait for the Lord, my soul 
doth wait." The meaning of it is quite plain. It is a for- 
given soul saying: " Now that He has forgiven me, I will 
sit at His feet, and I will look up to Him for more grace." 
But it is the waiting of an eager man. It is the waiting of 
a Bartimeus by the roadside who wants the passer-by to 
give him something. And it follows from that, that the 
believer is to wait on God, and yet keep on at his work. I 
am inclined to put the waiting on God very much in the 
form of having fellowship with Him. "They that wait on the 
Lord shall renew their strength." — Isaiah, xl, 41. They that 
wait on the Lord — who thus look up in fellowship with Him, 
and have communion with Him — shall renew their strength. 
There is no idleness here — no standing still — no leaving 
off what the Lord gave us to do. I don't think, Mr. Moody, 
that there is any other kind of waiting for the believer. 

Q. That question has raised another. If a man is out 
of communion with God, hadn't he better step out of his 
work till he gets in communion ? A. Well, I don't see how 
a man can wait upon God at all in any Bible sense, if he is 
unconverted. 

Q. But suppose he is a Christian, and has got out of 
communion ? A. Well, then, he must come into communion 
at once. He can have it, not by waiting, but at once. 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



117 



Q. What kind of preaching does the Spirit use? A. I 
think we may unhesitatingly say this: The Spirit's own 
office is to take of the things of Christ, and show them to 
the soul. He will not bless preaching that does not show 
Christ to the soul. If the Spirit delights to show us Christ's 
saving work, then the preaching that will be blessed will be 
the preaching that unfolds Christ's saving work. I haven't 
the least doubt that what accounts for the complete want of 
interest in congregations in many parts of your land and 
om's, is this: Christ is not every Sabbath preached. There 
was a remarkable and able minister in London, known to 
some of you — Dr. James Hamilton. "We were together one 
day — a few of us; and that was the question raised. He 
was a very remarkable and able man — an earnest man, too, 
though he sometimes seemed to be carried away by his lit- 
erary qualities. When this question was raised, he said 
with a pleasant smile: "I may not always do ifc, but we 
should never preach a sermon without setting forth Christ." 
And he added: "If God's people are present, it is the very 
thing they will want to hear. If those present are not 
God's people, it is the very thing they ought to hear.'' 

Q. How can you present Christ if you are preaching out 
of the Old Testament ? A. I thinly we get our best texts to 
preach Christ from Old Testament events. What better 
than: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness?" 
Or where can we be done preaching Christ if we come to the 
altar and the sacrifices ? I think I find Christ in every book 
of the Old Testament, without straining it. The Spirit 
points to Christ in ifc all. 

A voice — Do you find Christ in Job ? A. " I know that 
my redeemer liveth." 

Q. What do you understand by the passage where it 
says that the Spirit shall not speak of Himself? A. That 



118 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELI). 



is a very useful question. In the passage referred to, Ctirist 
says: "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come. He will 
guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; 
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak." "He 
will guide you into all truth." There is an article there in the 
Grreek — "into all the truth;" and if anybody is in the least at 
a loss to know what " the truth " means, recollect Christ said* 
"J am the truth." So that now He says: "The Spirit 
will guide you into all truth— into all about Me, the truth." 
"For He shall not speak of Himself." There are two mean- 
ings to that clause in our language. "Of Himself" might 
mean "about Himself;" but that is not the sense of it here. 
There is another meaning — "He will not speak without 
being prompted to do it." When Pilate asked, "Art thou 
the king of the Jews," Christ replied, "Say est thou this 
thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?" If 
Pilate was asking as an honest inquirer about a thing he 
did not understand, he was right to ask it, but not if 
another put the question into his miod. Now that is the 
meaning here. The Spirit is to reveal to us Christ, and 
what He shall hear, that shall He speak. What He shall 
hear from the Father and the Son, that is what He is to 
reveal to us. But He doesn't give us any new revelations 
that are not in the written Word; and hence when any per- 
sons speak to you about the Spirit in some mysterious way, 
revealing things to them, test them by this: "Is it in the 
Word?" If you have got something that is not written in 
the Word, then it is not the Spirit, but the devil that is 
teaching you. The Holy Spirit will show yoa the things of 
Christ, and help you to understand them as they are written 
in the Word. 

Q. Is the Spirit more easily grieved than the Father or 
the Son? A. That is another important question. I think 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



119 



we should take great care about entertaining that idea. 
And yet I know it is a very common idea. It is a very 
common idea to suppose that the Spirit is more sensitive 
than the other persons, or, as I have used the word some- 
times, that He is even touchy. Some disciples seem to 
think you can grieve Him, and grieve Him away, when 
Christ would have borne with you. There is no such teach- 
ing in the Bible. I found out once, talking with a person, 
what that was grounded upon. The emblem of the Holy 
Spirit was a dove. "Oh," said this person, "you know how 
easily you frighten away a dove," and grounding the idea 
upon that imagery, he thought: "I may, by an unin- 
vited thought, grieve the Spirit, when Christ would have 
borne with me." Now, we lay down this rule: What is the 
Spirit's heart ? It is the same as the heart of Christ, as to 
love, and long suffering, and tenderness, and kindness. Did 
not Christ say: "I will send you another comforter." 

Another comforter that is to take My place." If He sent 
One that is so sensitive that He would flee away from 
our hearts if we said anything out of joint — as the dis- 
ciples often did — or showed any ignorance or slowness of 
belief. He would not have been another Comforter in any 
sense like Himself. I think it is a most important thing to 
remember that the love of the Spirit is as intense and long 
suffering as the love of Christ. 

Q. Isn't conscience a safer guide than the Holy Spirit to 
lead us. A. I remember once having that question put to 
me, and I just took out my watch, and said: "Isn't my 
watch better than the sun?" Suppose I said to you: "I 
will tell you the hour by my watch, and you must always 
take the time from me." That is conscience. But it is the 
sun that is to rule the time. Now, conscience is fallen and 
corrupt. If we had an unf alien conscience, like holy Adam^ 



120 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



it would be as if my watch were always to agree with the 
sun. But now it is a most unsafe guide. Sometimes we hear 
men say: "Oh, I don't see any harm in this. My con- 
science doesn't condemn me." It isn't your conscience, or 
your consciousness, that is the rule of right and wrong. The 
law is the standard. By the law is the knowledge of sin. 
8in is the transgression of the law; not of conscience. 

Q. Was the power in Christ before He was baptized by 
John? It speaks of the Holy Ghost descending. A. Well, 
we must remember how it is written in the 3d cha})ter of 
John: "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him." 
Christ, no doubt, had the Spirit without measure, and the 
prophecy in Isaiah was fulfilled: "The Spirit of the Lord 
shall rest upon Me." Now, we have not a single indication 
or intimation that there was any one particular time in 
Christ's life when He received the Spirit. He had the 
Spirit from His infancy, and just according as the human 
nature developed, then the vessel, so to speak, was enlarged, 
and there was more of the Spirit manifested. But the 
fountain, the Holy Spirit, was in Him from His infancy, 
from His birth. Or put it in this way: He was, so to speak, 
in infancy, a plant. That plant, with its branches, could 
be bathed in sunshine, but then there were not many 
branches. As the tender plant grew — as the tree grew to 
be a Plant of Renown, as it unfolded all its foliage, then 
there was more sunshine flooding it. Or, in other words, 
without a figure: The Spirit dwelt in Christ's human nature 
from the moment of His birth, as a fountain, but as years 
went on. His human nature developed until the fullness of 
the Spirit was in Him. And I understand that on the day 
of His baptism, when the heavens were opened, what was 
done, was not conferring the Holy Ghost upon Him, for that 
would imply that He had not the Spirit till then; but it was 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



121 



to manifest wliat was in Him. I may put it this way: The 
fountain was there, full to the brim, but on that day the 
fountain was unsealed, and the manifestation of the fullness 
of the Spirit then began. Accordingly, the next thing you 
hear is His conflict with Satan, and how He baffled him. I 
think I am speaking in accordance with all the old divines 
in saying this, that the occurrence at the baptism was just 
a manifestation of what was in Him all along. 

Q. How much of the Spirit can we have ? A. I would 
like Mr. Moody to answer that. 

Mr. Moody — " Grood measure, pressed down and shaken 
up together and running over." 

Dr. Bonar — Fere is a grand text: 2 Cor., ix, 8 — just 
notice each little word: "God is able to make all grace 
abound toward you" — you who are sitting here. "Is able 
to make all grace abound toward you.^^ See what you might 
get. "That ye, having always." Look at that word 
"always" — without interruption. "Having always suffi- 
ciency in all things, may abound to every good work." That 
is what God can do for every one of us if we will let Him. 

Mr. Moody — Well, Doctor, I wish you would give an 
illustration I have heard you use. If you won't, I will give 
it. Take a tumbler, and get it so full of water that you 
can't get another drop in, and then touch it, and it will 
overflow. So Christ, when the woman touched Him, over- 
flowed with virtue, and she was healed. That is the priv- 
ilege of every child of God — to be so full of grace as to have 
a surplus. If a man hasn't got grace enough to regulate 
himself, he hasn't got enough to go and work for others. 

Dr. Bonar — That is the standard. Every man of God 
ought to aim ever to be full. 

Q. How will we be conscious of this filling — that we are 
filled with the Spirit — guided by the Spirit ? A. My reply 

H 



122 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



has always been that the only way I know is this: The 
Spirit has said distinctly that His office is to take of the 
things of Christ and show them to us. Well, if a man is 
filled with grace, will the Spirit fill him with anything but 
Christ — thoughts of Christ — discoveries of Christ? He 
will not be puffed up with new revelations, or with anything 
bad. 

Q. When does God fill a man — when does this power 
come — 'power for service? What condition must he be in? 
A. The waiting upon God that we were speaking of a little 
while ago might answer that. And, then, apart from waiting 
— at least in connection with it — when a man is called forth 
in special work, and is to be filled with the Holy Ghost, the 
response comes even before he has had time to ask it. When 
Peter stood before the council, for example, "being filled 
with the Holy Ghost, he spoke." And Paul, when dealing 
with Elymas, the sorcerer, was "filled with the Holy Ghost." 
I suppose there is a filling that comes in answer to our wait- 
ing on the Lord, but the Lord often goes beyond our asking. 

Q. How would you explain John, vii, 38, 39 ? A. I will 
tell you the way I sometimes view it. The passage is this — 
the first verse: "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture 
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." 
The phrase, "out of his belly," is the same as "out of his 
bowels," In the 40th Psalm, we read: "Thy law is within 
my bowels." That is the Hebrew way for saying, "in my 
deepest heart" — "in the very depths of my heart." If you 
look at the margin, you will see that it reads; "Thy law is 
in my bowels." Now, the word here is a word the Greek 
translator uses for saying: "Thy law is within my heart." 
I think the expression paraphrased a little — at least accom- 
modated to our usage, would be this: ''He that believeth 
on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his inmost soul 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



123 



shall flow rivers of living water." This was spoken of the 
Spirit. "But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that 
believed on Him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet 
given; because Jesus was not yet glorified." 

Q. Did that refer to Pentecost? A, I think, undoubt- 
edly, it referred to Pentecost. When Chi'ist had finished 
His work, and presented it to the Father in full payment of 
the ransom, then all the fullness of the treasury was opened. 
But, I suppose, Mr. Moody, you want to ask: Does every 
believer get an experience of this — "He that believeth in 
Me, out of his inmost heart shall flow rivers of living 
water?" I would like you to remark upon that. In what 
sense is that true of all believers? Is it just a possibility, 
like: "God is able to make you abound," etc. ? 

Mr. Moody — I think that is just it. God is able to do a 
great deal for us if we will only thirst for it. The trouble 
is, that a great many Christians don't thirst. They believe 
on Christ, and forget about the Holy Ghost in them. They 
are satisfied to stay where they are, and just rest there. Dr. 
Bonar — I have heard a thought thrown out, and it has a 
great deal in it, too. It is said that the rivers that flow out 
of the believing soul may be rivers of praise to the Lord, 
pouring out in song and the language of grateful adoration; 
so that there may be rivers that flow upward, as well as flow 
over upon our fellow- men. 

Mr. Moody — In the 3d chapter of John, Nicodemus 
came to Christ, and got life, but he didn't go further than 
that, or he would have left the Sanhedrim. In the 4th 
chapter, we read of the woman at the well, to whom Christ 
said: "The water that I shall give him, shall become in 
him a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life." 
But in the 7th chapter, we get this passage about the river 
of water. That is the highest type of Christian life — a 



124 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



river. Now, there are just tliose three classes of Christians. 
The first class get life, but don't flow out; the second class 
are like a well of water, springing up. But I think it is the 
privilege of every believer to move into the 7th chapter of 
John, and live there. 

Q. Did the Holy Spirit ever appear in a visible form? 
A. That has reference, I suppose, to the passage — " The Holy 
Spirit descended like a dove out of heaven, and it abode 
upon Him." Well, we must compare that with the tongues 
of fire at Pentecost. Each tongue of fire was a symbol of 
the Holy Spirit, who was giving the disciples tongues of fire 
to proclaim the Savior. But no one ever thought of saying 
that the Spirit then took a visible form. He was merely 
giving a visible symbol. In like manner, when there was 
seen to rest in Christ the form of a dove, it was an intima- 
tion of the presence of the Spirit. 

Q. What does this mean — "Yerily, verily, I say unto 
you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God." A. Christ was 
speaking to a ruler of the Jews, who knew the Old Testa- 
ment phraseology. Nicodemus would, no doubt, at once 
understand the allusion to the 44th chapter of Isaiah — "I 
will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon 
the dry ground. I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and 
My mercy upon thine offspring." There " My spirit " corre- 
sponds with the "water" that is to be poured upon the 
thirsty and upon the dry ground. Now, there is a beautiful 
fact in connection with this. I happened to be in Palestine 
some forty years ago. In the south part of the land, we had 
to go through some dry spots — fields quite dry; but we were 
told that if you were only to flood that ground with water, 
it would spring into verdure. There are plenty of seeds 
lying in the ground, dropped at various times — some of 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



them dropped by the birds of the air — so that you have only 
to let a flood of water upon the field, and in a week's time 
you will have a rush of life. Now, it may be just like that 
in the case of some one sitting here. You have been 
taught the Word of God; you know the doctrines of the 
Word; you know them in your head, and, perhaps, approve 
of them, too; but they have no power over you, and you have 
no feeling. When, however, the Spirit comes, floods are 
poured over the dry field. What you knew before starts into 
new meaning. You wonder — "How did I not feel that 
before?" Or, you say: "I knew that, but I never saw the 
application of it before." It is because the Spirit has come. 
A flood of water has been poured into your heart. You are 
born of the Spirit — the Spirit being represented in the Old 
Testament by water. The seeds of truth may have lain dor- 
mant in your heart a long while, but now they shall come 
to some grand harvest. After I left the country parish 
where I was, there was a lad awakened some months after 
in a remarkable way; and he told me the next time I was 
in the neighborhood — "Wasn't this a remarkable thing? 
No sooner had I got my eyes opened, than all the lessons I 
used to get at the Sabbath school began to come back to me 
immediately." He said: "I cannot explain it, but things 
I hadn't thought of for eight years came back to me imme- 
diately." It was just this: It was the flood poured over the 
dry field. 

Mr. Moody — Mr. Morgan, I once heard you speak on 
that passage. What is your explanation? 

Mr. Morgan, of London — I think that Mark, i, 8, may 
help us. John the Baptist, there says: "I indeed have 
baptized you with water; but He shall baptize you with the 
Holy Ghost." I think the water in the 3d of John refers 
to John's baptism, and the Spirit refers to the baptism in 



126 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Christ by the Holy Spirit. I think that the one means the 
death, and the other the life. 

Dr. Bonar — But wouldn't that send Nicodemus away to 
John? Wouldn't it look like that? 

Mr. Morgan — I think the meaning is that there must 
always be, as it were, the breaking-down ministry of John 
antecedent to blessing in Christ. 

Dr. Bonar — Well, there is no contradiction; there may 
be several meanings in the passage. 

Q. What is the sin against the Holy Ghost? A. Now, 
we have come to the most important and most difficult ques- 
tion. I will state what I can about it, and then the breth- 
ren will help. The sin against the Holy Ghost troubles 
many people, and troubles many needlessly. The first thing 
I would like to say about it is this: It cannot be a sin 
beyond the power of the blood of Chi-ist; for there is not a 
sin committed or can be committed that in itself could not 
be put away by the blood of Christ. I think the greatest sin 
that ever was or can be was the sin of Adam. His one sin in- 
volved the ruin of millions and millions and millions; yet his 
sin was forgiven. He was told : " There is a Redeemer for you, 
Adam." So, then, we lay down that, that the sin against 
the Holy Ghost cannot be a sin that exceeds the power of 
the blood of Christ, Then if that is so, the next thing we 
lay down is this: It must be a sin that has never been 
brought to the blood of Christ, for if that sin had been 
brought to the blood of Christ, it had been washed away. 
So, that, if any one here is troubled with that thought, that 
you have committed the "unpardonable sin," let me say: If 
you bring that sin to the blood of Christ, it is done away at 
once. That seems the plain teaching of all the rest of 
Scripture. Very well; that is what it is not. It is not a 
sin that exceeds the power of the blood of Christ. 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



127 



But what is it? What is it? An idea that has often 
alarmed people for years, if not a life-time, is this: It has 
been some particular burst of blasphemy uttered by the per- 
son in former days. John Bunyan took that idea up, and 
for, I think, six years it followed him. He tells us that 
once he was tempted by the devil. The devil said: "Sell 
Christ! Sell Christ." " I resist thee ! I resist thee! No, 
I will not! I will not!" But at last, he said: "I was so 
troubled by him, and he so teased me, that I said, "Very 
well; I will — I will." Well, he said: "For years I went 
about saying, 'I have committed the unpardonable sin; I 
have sold the Lord of Glory.' " Now, it was not true. John 
Bunyan found afterward pardon for that sin, that he thought 
was the unpardonable sin. 

Well, another thing: It is not some mysterious sin that 
you cannot get at. There are some people who think it may 
be some sin they have committed, though they can't tell 
exactly what, and God has put a mark upon them, that they 
will never be saved. There is nothing about that in the 
Bible. There is nothing said of any sin that is so mysteri- 
ous as not to be ascertained, so far as concerns this question. 
There was a lady came to Dr. Spencer — he mentions the 
incident in his book — and she said she had committed the 
unpardonable sin; that there was no hope for her. Well, 
he reasoned with her. No; she was quite sure she was 
quite out of the pale of pardon. At last he said to her: 
" Now, I want to tell you just what I think is the matter. 
I think you are full of pride. You want to make out that 
you have committed some sin that nobody else has done. 
I think you are exceedingly self-righteous. You want some- 
thing about yourself to recommend you to God. Ah! but 
that is not all. Here is the truth, isn't it ?" He looked her 
in the face. "You don't want to yield to God at once, and 



128 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



you are making a pretext of this; isn't it so?" She just 
sank down. "Oh," she said, "I believe it is true — what you 
have said." And she was delivered from the idea that she 
had committed the unpardonable sin. 

Well, I think we may say this: Nobody that committed 
that sin ever cares to come to the blood of Christ, and he is 
never distressed about not being pardoned. He doesn't seek 
his way to the Fountain. At any rate, it will never be in 
the power of any one to say: " I went with this awful sin to 
the Fountain opened for sin, and I found He could not 
wash it away." That will never happen. But coming now 
to what is more positive. What seems to be the sin? It 
seems to be this: There is a point — it is an awfully solemn 
subject — there is a point in the history of sinners at which 
the long suffering of God is worn out, and He says: " There 
is an end of waiting." If this be so, we draw this inference: 
A person does not commit the unpardonable sin by any one 
act. It is by a course of resistance to God. God, by His 
Spirit, shows the man the way of life, and presses him to 
enter upon it, and he resists. How long the Spirit of God 
will wait upon that resisting man it is not for us to say; but 
it is an awfully perilous thing for a man, even for another 
minute, to resist Him. For He may say, "I will strive no 
more. I withdraw." And then the sin is never forgiven. 
The Spirit takes a final farewell of the man who has so 
resisted Him; and then the man has no more care for par- 
don. He will not care about the coming judgment. He 
will never, I suppose, be troubled till the trump sounds, and 
he is summoned into the presence of God, all unprepared. 

Q. What about the theory that the sin was the attributing 
to the power of Beelzebub the miracles wrought by Christ ? 
A. That cannot be sufficient, for this reason, that many of 
those that did so seem to have been among those saved at 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



129 



Pentecost. Remember, Christ does not say, "You have 
abeady committed that sin;" but "Take care lest you 
should." It was as if He said, "You are on the very verge 
of grieving away the Spirit." 

Maj. Whittle said: I once heard an illustration of that 
in Chicago. It is said that " Pharaoh hardened his heart," 
and it is also said that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. The 
children of Israel, when in Egypt, had a great deal to do 
with bricks — working clay into bricks. Now, they say that 
if you want to harden blue clay, there is a very simple way 
to do it. The worker in the brick has just to withhold water, 
and leave the clay where it is in the sunshine. If he leaves 
it there without pom-ing water on it, it becomes as hard as 
a stone; whereas, if he wishes to soften it, he takes care to 
water it, and to water it often, and the clay keeps soft, and 
can be molded into any shape. Now, when God, by His 
Spirit, works upon the soul. He is just pouring water upon 
the clay; but when He must leave the soul, what He does 
is just to withdraw the water, and the soul hardens. When 
the sinner reaches that state, sermons affect him no longer. 
He that is filthy remains filthy still, and he grows worse and 
worse, more and more corrupt. God just says, in reference 
to him: "Ephraim is joined to his idols; let him alone." 

At the request of Dr. Bonar, a gentleman in the audience 
then repeated from memory the following lines by Dr. Alex- 
ander : 

There is a time we know not when, 

A place we know not where, 
That seals the destiny of men 

To glory or despair. 

To pass that limit is to die — 

To die as if by stealth ; 
It does not quench the beaming eye, 

Nor pale the bloom of health. 



130 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



The conscience may be still at ease, 

The spirits light and gay ; 
That which is pleasing still may please, * 

And care be thrust away. 

But on that forehead God has set 

Indelibly a mark, 
Unseen by man, for man as yet 

Is blind and in the dark. 

Oh, where is this mysterious bourn 

By which our path is crossed — 
Beyond which God Himself hath sworn 

That he who goes is lost ? 

An answer from the skies is sent ; 

" Ye who from God depart, 
While it is called to-day, repent. 

And harden not your heart." 

Q. Does the Spirit reveal Himself to anyone apart from 
the Word? A. That is a very important question also. I 
would like to notice what is said in the Old Testament upon 
that matter — the Lord rebuking those who went to anything 
but His Word. In the 8th chapter of Isaiah and 19th verse, 
it is said: "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto 
them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep 
and that mutter: s*hould not a people seek unto their God? 
for the living to the dead? To the law and to testimony." 
Go to the law and the testimony, for, " if they speak not 
unto this Word, it is because there is no light in them." 
Now, unless the law and the standard be our standard and 
guide, we are in utter confusion. The Spirit in the New 
Testament just acts as the Spirit in the Old Testament, I 
understand. 

Q. How does the Spirit comfort? A. Ah, it is a very 
beautiful word — the word for Comforter. It includes much 
more than what we call consolation. It implies exhorta- 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



131 



tion, and also advocacy. Taken in this view, the Holy Ghost 
in the believer comforts him by the views He presents of 
the Savior. More than that, however. He advocates in him 
Christ's claims and cause, and stirs him up by exhortation, 
rousing him up out of indolence and dullness. There are 
always these three ideas in the word: consolation, advocacy 
and exhortation. 

Speaking of that passage about going only to the law 
and the testimony, an incident comes to my mind that may 
help to enforce the lesson. There was a young man whom 
we believed to be converted, and who was very useful in our 
meetings. "We have a great deal of spiritualism in G-las- 
gow. The curiosity of this young man was excited, and he 
thought he would like to attend a seance, that is, one of 
their private meetings, where they peep and mutter. And 
he went, just from curiosity. He came back saying that he 
couldn't say he had seen very much; he didn't care very 
much about it; but he was withered from that night. He 
was withered! He had gone contrary to God's command. 
He gave up a meeting he was holding, and in which he had 
been very useful, apparently. In a little while, he disap- 
peared from among us altogether. 

Q. Do you think it is wrong for Christian people to go 
to such places ? A. It is most dangerous. A gentleman 
once came to my friend. Dr. Somerville, and said: "My son 
is going away to South America. He will not be within 
reach of the ordinances of religion. I know he will have no 
Sabbath; and he is to be away three years. Now, I want 
yon to pray for him, that he may not lose all the good dis- 
position he seems to feel." Dr. Somerville looked at him, 
and said: "Ay; you are going to put yom' son's head into 
the mouth of a lion, and then going to stand and pray, ' May 
the ILon not crush him! ' " 



132 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



Q. Are not some Christian people self- deceived into the 
idea that they receive special communications from the Holy 
Spirit? A. Yes; but send them always to the Word That 
is the test. What are the fruits of the Spirit ? When men 
and women are filled with the Spirit, it will make them 
meek, patient, long suffering, humble. They won't be putted 
up, and claiming to be prophets. When people claim to be 
filled with the Spirit, and announce new revelations , and 
strange things, turn away; it isn't the Spirit; it is the flesh. 
In proportion as we are filled with the Spirit, we will be 
like Him. It is His mind to be unseen, to be hidden; to 
just uplift Jesus, and be unseen Himself. Then those who 
are filled with the Spirit will have the same mind. They 
will want to be unseen. They will want just to hold up the 
Lord J esus Christ. Brethren, I wonder if any one here has 
ever known what it is to be filled with the Spirit. Oh, that 
we might know more about it! " More room! more room! 
He cries. I suppose that will be His joy on the resurrection 
morning — that He will then have tabernacles in which He 
can shine in every part of them. Oh, how happy the 
Spirit will be then! How grieved He is now! These bodies 
of ours are redeemed from the curse of the law; and yet you 
and I, by our miserable carnality, by our pride, won't give 
Him room to glorify the Lord in us as He desires. Oh, may 
God help us to make room for the Spirit, that He may do 
what He will in us, and through us, and by us, to the honor 
of the Blessed Name! 

Mr. Moody — In Acts, vii, 51, Stephen said: "Ye stiff- 
necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always 
resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." What 
is resisting the Holy Spirit, and who resist Him? 

Dr. Bonar — It was the testimony of God to the fathers 
that they resisted the Spirit, and Stephen says: "I come 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



133 



proclaiming Christ the Savior to yon, and yon do as yonr 
fathers did." 

Mr. Moody — Well, if the Spirit leads me toward Christ, 
and there comes a feeling in my heart, " I onght to love 
Christ," bnt I avoid letting that feeling control me, is that 
resisting the Spirit ? 

Dr. Bonar — I wonld call it slighting Him; but perhaps 
it wonld be difficult to say. If you have clearly shown the 
sinner the way of salvation by Christ, and he says : "I under- 
stand what you mean, but I don't like that way," he is cer- 
tainly resisting you and all your persuasions, and he is resist- 
ing the Spirit, who is setting before him the way of life. I 
think that is what took place in the case of Stephen and the 
men around him. 

Mr. Moody — Would you make a difference between resist- 
ing and grieving Him ? 

Dr. Bonar — We may grieve the Spirit unconsciously. 
We may do things that greatly grieve Him, and not be aware 
of it. But a man cannot resist the Spirit without knowing 
that he is putting aside what the Spirit wishes him to accept. 

Dr. Bonar — " Eesist " is a word that is to be applied to 
those that have never yielded, whereas " grieve " is a word 
for disciples. Disciples may "grieve" the Spirit uncon- 
sciously; it may be by worldliness, or something in their 
temper. To " quench " is to put out fire. It is as if He 
said: " Take care that there be nothing cast upon the fire to 
make it burn lower. Take care that there be no water thrown 
on it, or anything that would make the fire sink down." 
Believers may do that by worldly conformity or otherwise. 

Mr. Morgan — Has that special reference to "despise not 
prophesy ings ? " 

Dr. Bonar — Yes. If you don't use the prophecies that 
are in the Word, you are not giving fuel to the fire; you are 



184 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



letting the fire sink low, and in a manner you are quench- 
ing it. 

Mr. Moody — Suppose a person in this room feels the 
Spirit drawing him to Christ, but he won't be drawn. What 
is that? 

Dr. Bonar— He resists the Holy Ghost. 

Mr. Moody — And that is what the world is doing ? 

Dr. Bonar — Yes; exactly. 

Mr. Moody — He wants to guide them into light, and 
truth, and peace, and joy; and they resist? 

Dr. Bonar — Yes. There was once a workingman came 
to me, one evening, in great trouble. I saw he was very 
unhappy. He said: " I have come to tell you what has hap- 
pened to me. Three or four nights ago I was in a meeting. 
Christ was held up before me, and I saw my warrant to take 
Him quite clear; and just as I was about to make up my 
mind, the thought came—' To-morrow, to-morrow, I have 
something to engage in, and how can I reconcile it with the 
yoke of Christ ? and I began to ponder, and look at the diffi- 
culties, and in two minutes all was over — I had lost the 
desire to take Christ at once.' And now," said he, "I am 
miserable. I suppose I drove the Spirit away that moment.'* 
We]l, all I could say was, " You certainly slighted the Spirit. 
But you didn't drive Him away. If you did, you would not 
have felt miserable. Isn't that so ?" " Yes. " " You didn't 
drive Him away, but it was an awful risk." 

Q. What is it to "limit the Holy One?" A. Thinking 
He can do far less than He can do. You know, perhaps, 
some very Godless person, and you say, " Well, the Spirit 
can change many hearts, but I don't believe He will ever 
change that heart." That is limiting Him. Or we may say 
about ourselves: " He has done a great deal for others, but I 
don't expect Him to do that for me." Isn't that limiting Him ? 



QUESTIONS ON THE SPIRIT. 



135 



A voice — "When persons think they cannot be holy to the 
Lord, they are limiting Him, are they not? A. Yes; and if 
they don't strive for higher attainments, they are limiting 
God. Limiting God is putting a bound to His power and 
willingness. 

Q. Is it right to pray to be " baptized by the Holy Ghost ? " 
•A. In Acts, i, 5, Christ says: "John truly baptized with 
water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not 
many days hence." That referred to Pentecost. But you 
will notice that after Pentecost that word is never used in 
that connection; it is always "filled" — " filled with the 
Spirit"— "full of the Holy Ghost." I don't know why it 
is, but it is a fact that after Pentecost the word was 
changed. 

Q. Then, instead of praying that we may be baptized by 
the Holy Ghost, it is more Scriptural to pray that we may 
be filled. A. Yes; more so. 

Q. And we need, all of us, to pray to be filled. A. Yes; 
the Spirit is dwelling in every believer, but from time to 
time even the Apostles needed to seek to be refilled. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

DISCOUKSE BY DK. BONAK THE FOREEUNNER OF CHRIST CAREER 

OF THE GREATEST OF PROPHETS HIS BIRTH, HIS UPBRINGING, 

HIS PREACHING, AND THE END OF IT LESSONS OF HIS LIFE. 

Dr. Bonar said: In speaking to you on the subject of 
Jolin the Baptist, I will start with the Lord's very remarka- 
ble statement about His forerunner, in the 11th chapter of 
Matthew and the 10th verse : " This is hfe of whom it is 
written, Behold, I shall send My messenger before Thy face, 
who shall prepare Thy way for Thee. Verily I say unto 
you, Among them that are born of women there has not risen 
a greater than John the Baptist." This is our Lord's testi- 
mony. I want to show you what I believe the Holy Ghost 
sets forth in the Scriptures about John the Baptist. The 
greatness of the forerunner of Christ will in no way detract 
from the greatness of the Master, but it will have the oppo- 
site eifect: the greater the forerunner, all the greater is He 
efore whom he prepares the way. The angel at the sepul- 
cher that was sent to roll away the stone was a remarkable 
ang;el ; his countenance was like lio^htninof, and his raiment 
white as snow. The very brightest and best of His angels 
had been chosen for that small office of rolling away the 
stone, because the Master deserved this honor. What must 
the Master have been if the servant was so glorious! Now, 
say this to yourselves all along as we speak of John the 
Forerunner. 

(136) 



.TORN THE BAPTIST. 



137 



There was a quiet home in the south of Judea. It is 
generally said that the place was Hebron. Many think, 
with good reason for it, that it was a village in the 
region of Hebron. I think it was just a quiet hamlet 
like one of yom- New England hamlets. And there 
there lived two persons upon whom the eye of God looked 
down, and it is recorded that "they were both righteous 
before God, walking in all the commandments and ordi- 
nances of the Lord blameless.'''' They were consistent in 
their profession. Oh, if it could be said of every believer 
and disciple that he was blameless and consistent day by 
day! High testimony! Perhaps there are some here who 
dare not apply that to their own lives. Perhaps you are 
living in some cherished sin. If you are, depend upon it 
that cherished sin will cost you dear. Inconsistent disciples 
never get a blessing. Zachariah knew this. There was the 
home in which was born the child of whom we are to speak 
to-day. I want you to notice, dear brethren, the circum- 
stances about his birth; then the circumstances about his 
upbringing; then I want you to notice his mission and 
preaching, and the effects of it; and then the end of it. 

Now, the circumstances about his birth are very wonder ■ 
ful. Can you point to any other prophet but this one who 
was foretold, instead of foretelling anything? that didn't 
foretell anything, and never wrought a miracle, and yet was 
foretold in prophecy ? Seven hundred years before he was 
born, John was foretold. Isaiah, in the 40fch chapter of his 
prophecy, declared that there should be in Israel — at a time 
when things had sunk very low — ^suddenly there should be 
heard a voice — not in Jerusalem, but a voice in the Wilder- 
ness — "the voice of one ciying in the Wilderness, Prepare 
ye the way of the Lord." That was the prophecy of John 

seven hundred years before he was born. That is not all. 

I 



138 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



The Lord again, four hundred years before he was born 
gave another prephecy concerning him. Malachi, the last 
of the Old Testament prophets, was told not to close his 
book without mentioning again the forerunner. In the 3d 
chapter and 1st verse, we read: "Behold, I will send My 
messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me." You 
will not be able to show me any prophet born of woman thus 
honored. Another remarkable thing: when the time drew 
near, God sent an angel to tell that he was born. And He 
selected just that angel that is the very highest and bright- 
est we know — we do not take note here of Michael, who was 
archangel — He selected for this errand Gabriel, the angel 
that Daniel had been visited by, and who foretold about the 
seventy weeks. He was sent to Jerusalem to Zacharias, the 
priest, to foretell about John. Notice that Zacharias was 
going about his ordinary duties when the message came to 
him. He didn't go out of his sphere. He was burning 
incense and attending to other duties connected therewith; 
and it was while he was so engaged that the visit of the 
angel came. Don't you leave your ordinary duties until you 
see distinctly and without mistake that the Lord calls you 
away. If you are to be blessed, you will be blessed in the 
midst of your ordinary duties. If you are to get power from 
on high, it will be in the midst of your ordinary work. 
You know, when the Lord visited the shepherds to announce 
the birth of the Savior, they were at their ordinary work in 
the fields. He called the disciples when they were at their 
ordinary work, and gave them their commission to become 
fishers of men. Well, Zacharias was burning incense at the 
golden altar in the holy place, when all at once a thing un- 
precedented caught his eye. " There appeared unto him au 
angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar 
of incense." Zacharias saw him and was filled with fear. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



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He saw him; he looked upon him; and fear fell upon him. 
He was troubled, but the angel said: " Zacharias, Zacharias, 
I know you quite well; and I am sent with a good message 
to you. Thy prayer is answered, and thy wife Elizabeth 
shall bear a son, and thou shalt call his name John." And 
the angel went on to tell the good news: " Thou shalt have 
joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For 
he shall be great in the eyes of the Lord, and shall drink 
neither wine nor strong drink. He shall be like Samson 
in the eyes of the Lord — a spiritual Samson, Zacharias — and 
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's 
womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to 
the Lord their God." This is part of his greatness —he was 
to turn many to the Lord. That word always means a great 
multitude; and no doubt John did turn a great multitude to 
the Lord. Aren't you sorry for those believers that do not 
turn many to the Lord ? — that Sabbath school teacher who 
never sees a conversion in his class; that minister who never 
sees conversions in his congregation ? I think they will be 
sorry yet for themselves whea the Lord comes. " They that 
turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever." 
Well, Gabriel had more to say: This child shall go before 
the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a 
people prepared for the Lord." Now, dear friends, he was 
to be a spiritual Samson, and he was to be an Elias. When 
the Lord came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, His 
disciples said, " Why do the scribes say that Elias must 
come first?" "Quite true, quite true," He said; "Elias is 
come already, and they knew him not." Well, when Zach- 
arias heard that message, he said, " Whereby shall I know 
this?" — as much as to say, "I would like a sign." Gabriel 
looked solemn. "Zacharias," said he, "I am Gabriel, that 
stand in the presence of God, and I am sent to speak unto 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. Yet thou believest 
not. Behold, thou shalt be dumb" — deafness, too; deaf and 
dumb — " thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until 
the day that these things shall be performed, because thou 
believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their sea- 
son." Here again, see what unbelief does; or, see what un- 
belief is. See what it is to Zacharias. It makes a man 
deaf and dumb; deaf, so that he cannot hear the glad tid- 
ings, and therefore dumb and not able to speak them. See 
what a power unbelief is. It makes a man an object of com- 
miseration. The people were waiting in the courts till 
Zacharias should come out from burning the incense, won- 
dering why he stayed so long. There never had been any 
event in Israel since the tabernacle or tent was set up, like 
this. When he came out, did he say anything? No. He 
looked very solemn, and made signs. Oh, how it must have 
solemnized the people, and what an inquiry must have been 
raised among them! You see what a work is made about the 
birth of this prophet John. Zacharias writes home, and tells 
his wife the news. Elizabeth believes the announcement 
without question. In a similar case Abraham believed, and 
it was Sarah that was staggered; but Zachariah did not be- 
lieve, while Elizabeth was strong in the faith. Well, we 
read that " After those days Elizabeth conceived, and hid 
herself five months." When you have received a great bless- 
ing, do not let your thankfulness cool down. Withdraw as 
Elizabeth did, and commune with the Lord. That shows 
that you value the blessing. By and by, some one comes in 
and tells Elizabeth that there are people coming along, evi- 
dently coming toward the house. She goes out to look. Oh, 
she sees a friend coming; and the friend very soon steps 
down from her beast; it is her cousin Mary! And Eliza- 
beth knows a good deal more than we have yet spoken about. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



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She, too, has got hints of what Gabriel has been telling to 
Mary. She takes her in her arms, and welcomes her, with 
her face lighted np with joy; and an extraordinary thing 
happens. Then the babe in Elizabeth's womb leaped for 
joy; and we have divine testimony that it was joy because 
he heard the voice of the mother of the Lord. You never 
heard of any case like that, before or after. This is the 
most extraordinary prophet we ever read about — the most 
extraordinary man we ever read about. No sooner had Eliz- 
abeth welcomed Mary as the mother of the Lord than she 
was filled with the Holy Ghost. She was tilled with the 
Holy Ghost. The lesson here is that if you are to be filled 
with the Holy Ghost, it is to be in connection with some 
view of Christ — unmistakably in connection with some view 
of Christ; for the Holy Ghost takes of the things of Christ 
and shows them to us. Elizabeth congratulates Mary. 
Then Mary breaks out in song. Mary is the first poetess — 
the first composer and singer in the New Testament. She 
sang: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
rejoiced in God my Savior." Zachariah did not hear it. 
He was still deaf because of his unbelief. At last the time 
came and the child was born; and on the eighth day they 
came to circumcise him and give him his name. A consul- 
tation was held about his name — choosing the name. No 
doubt the friends suggested this and that, and finally they 
decided to call him Zacharias. But Elizabeth knew the 
secret, and she said, "Not so; he shall be called John.'^ 
When they objected, she said, " Let Zacharias tell." So they 
made signs to ask the father what the child should be called: 
and he asked for a wi'iting table, and wrote, " His name is 
John." Gabriel had said, "Thou shaltcall his name John." 
In this, Jo bin was like Christ, and had the same honor, that 
his name was foretold before he was born. The forerun- 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



ner's name had been announced by Gabriel, for the Lord 
had said, " Since he is to be the forerunner, I will be pres- 
ent, that day at the circumcision. I will give the name. It 
shall be John " — that is, Jehovah is gracious : J oanna — a cor- 
ruption of Jehovah Anna — Jehovah is gracious. ''And they 
marveled." But let them marvel more. The father is no 
more sad. His lips are opened, his ears opened. He is not 
an unbeliever any more in any sense. The moment you take 
in that Jehovah is gracious, your unbelief is gone, and the 
effects of it are gone. You will be able to hear and able to 
speak for God. But more: that very moment he is filled 
with the Holy Ghost. Another lesson: the more we take in 
of that truth, that Jehovah is gracious through His Son, the 
more the Holy Spirit is drawn to us. When Philip preached 
Jesus to the eunuch, notice how the Spirit came to him, and, 
when he had finished his work at that spot, caught him 
away. " Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and 
prophesied." He became the first poet and hymn- writer in 
the New Testament. And a glorious hymn it is that he 
sang. 

Now, we must notice the upbringing of the child. In 
Eph., vi, 7, parents are enjoined to bring up their children 
" in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Do all par- 
ents do this ? Perhaps you bring them up in the admoni- 
tion of the Lord. You admonish them; you teach them; 
you give them advice. But how about the nurture ? Nur- 
ture is training — family discipline and family example. Be 
careful about that. A certain King of France said to one 
of those around him: "I am often filled with trembling 
when I am speaking to my little boy, because I know he is 
to be the monarch of this realm." Now, parents, do you 
ever feel anything of that awe when you are training your 
childi-en? You believe that son of yours is to become an 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



143 



heir to the Kingdom; to wear a crown in the Kingdom of 
Christ. You expect, you pray for that. Then do you real- 
ize his destiny, and the influence of your example? Well, 
we read of the child John that he wan filled with the Holy 
Ghost from his mother's womb. That is expressly said. I 
do not think that all patents, or even many parents, look for 
infant children being filled with the Holy Ghost even from 
their mother's womb. There is nothing to hinder it, cer- 
tainly. But we go on, and find how John was brought up. 
He was brought up as a Nazarite, neither tasting wine nor 
strong drink in any form. Do you notice that when Daniel 
and his three brethren refused to touch the king's wine, the 
Lord blessed the scruple, and said they were fairer as well 
as fatter than all the ethers? Jereiniah says, in Lamenta- 
tions, iv, 7, about the Nazarites: " Her Nazarites were purer 
than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy 
than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire." As if he 
said: " See what beautiful forms they have! How healthy 
they are ! " So it was likely with John the Baptist. I think 
he was a handsome man. Ah, yes; he was a Nazarite, and 
the Lord would not withhold from him the blessing that 
came to Nazarites. John the Baptist, the great preacher, 
was attractively formed. His very appearance drew an audi- 
ence to listen to him. We are told that " he grew " — that 
is, I believe, he grew in stature till he was of full age. He 
was a young man of noble^Jbearing. "And was strong in 
spirit." " Strong in spirit." Both mentally and spiritually 
his mind developed. He was evidently a young man of 
great mental power. You cannot but notice it in the lif^^tle 
touches we get concerning him. Besides that, notice his 
spiritual development. He had large thoughts of God. 
He found his soul expand as he drew upon God. What 
kind of an education had he ? It is generally thought that 



144 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



he would go up thrice in the year to the regular feasts. I 
think he would draw attention in Jerusalem wherever he 
went. The people would be all the better prepared, when 
the news came to Jerusalem that he was preaching, to go 
out and hear him. He never stayed at Jerusalem. His 
place of living was in the desert; not in the Temple courts. 
He was to have the ministry of winning people from 
the Temple; so he was not to be brought up there. He was 
to stay in the desert. The desert here does not mean a dry, 
waste ground: it means a pasture place. I think very likely 
it was just such a place as some of the Scottish martyrs 
spent their time in, communing with God before they were 
put to the final test. One of these, we read, used for many 
months to walk up and down the sheep tracks and the 
country lanes, with his Bible in his hand, and from time to 
time he was noticed to be looking up in fellowship with God. 
I suppose John was educated in this way: or like David 
Brainard, who used in the wilderness to get under a tree, and 
there spend two days, sometimes more, at a time, with his 
Bible opened, and calling upon the Lord to pour out His 
Spirit upon him. Well, dear friends, this went on for thirty 
years, just like Christ at Nazareth, and when those thirty 
years were coming to an end, one day, while he was thus 
engaged, such a scene may have occurred as Moses saw at 
the burning bush. A voice was heard — the voice of God, 
sending him forth. John the Evangelist says: "There was 
a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same 
came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light." 

Now we come to the third period in his life: his com- 
mission and preaching. He was sent by God. He was to 
fulfill Isaiah, xl, 3: "Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people. 
The voice of him that crieth in the Wilderness, Prepare ye 
the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



145 



for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every 
mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall 
be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory 
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it to- 
gether," He was sent to proclaim this; or, the Evangelist 
John says, " He came to bear witness of the Light, that all 
men through Him might believe. He was not that Light, 
but he was sent to bear witness of that Light." It is a 
great mistake to suppose that John was sent just to harrow 
people's consciences and to alarm them. He did so at times, 
but his commission was to bear witness to Christ the Light, 
" that all men through Him might believe." Remember 
you, he went in the ordinary way. His dress was just a 
leather girdle and a garment of camel's hair — nothing to 
make anybody pay the least attention to him. It was just 
an ordinary shepherd's dress. His food was locusts and 
wild honey. They use those locusts to this day in South 
Africa; Dr. Moffat was telling me about it the last time 
I met him. John did not pamper the flesh; he kept 
under the body. He did not taste wine or strong drink. 
He was not a man who cared for good living, or self-indulg- 
ence, or popularity. He did not want to attract people by 
any strange ways. And when they came to him with the 
question, " Who are you? Are you one of the old proph- 
ets ? Are you Jeremiah ?" " No." " Well, are you Elias ? " 
"No." "Then who are you?" "I am a voice — a voice 
that cries. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make straight 
His paths." He began to preach, very likely, to a company 
of shepherds in some village; and then they reported what 
had taken place, and soon there was a great gathering. His 
first text is said to have been; "Repent! for the Kingdom 
of Heaven is at hand. Repent! Turn away from your 
ordinary affairs — from all that has engrossed your attention 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD 



hitherto. Turn and look at this great sight. A King, a 
King, has landed on our shores. The Kingdom of Heaven 
is at hand. Change your thoughts about these matters. 
Come and listen to what shall be told about Him." That 
was the burden of his preaching at the beginning. The 
Lord had directed him to begin his preaching near the banks 
of the Jordan, and when the people came forward confessing 
their sin, and thereby declaring they believed they had need 
of a Savior, he was to take them to Jordan, and lay the water 
of Jordan upon them, thus confirming their confession, 
namely, "We are defiled, and must be washed clean." He 
did so to all that came, and always, as he did it, he said: 
" Now, remember, I am not that Savior. There is One com- 
ing who is to wash in reality; yes, to wash you thoroughly; 
not only to take away your defilement, but to baptize you 
with the Holy Ghost and with fire. It is to be inward work 
with Him, and not merely the washing away of defilement." 
Well, this went on. Sometimes there was a change in his 
tone. One day a great number of Sadducees came to see 
him, and he faced them boldly and fearlessly, in the spirit 
of a lion. He said: " O generation of vipers, who hath 
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Let me ask 
you, is this a true awakening ? Who warned you to flee from 
the wrath that is hanging over you ? If it be a true awaken- 
ing, then bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Show me 
your life, your altered views, your altered feelings, and your 
altered teachings; show me by these that you are new creat- 
ures. Bring me fruits meet for repentance." And he says: 
" Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to 
our father: for I say unto you that God is able of these 
stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Then, probably 
pointing to the palm trees in the valley of the Jordan, he 
says: "The ax is laid at the root of the trees: therefore 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



147 



every tree whicli bringeth forth not good fruit, is hewn 
down, and cast into the fire." Which means: you. roust 
not only be trees to bear some kind of fr'uit; you must bear 
good fruit If you don't bear good fruit, you shall be cast 
into the nre. 

It is expressly said that John wrought no miracles. But 
one day, in the midsfc of his preaching, the Lord gave him 
notice that to-morrow a great thing would happen. " To- 
morrow, John," said He, ''I will be with you of whom you 
have been speaking." Christ and John had not met. I 
have no doubt John had heard many descriptions of his 
Master. His father and mother would have told about HinL 
" We have never met face to face," the message would likely 
run, " but to-morrow you will know Me, because you will see 
the Spirit coming down upon Me." I suppose John did not 
sleep much that night. " To-morrow ; to-morrow," he would 
think, " I will see the face of my Lord. Oh, what an inter- 
view with the Redeemer! " Dear friends, if a message were 
coming to us, " To-morrow, to-morrow I shall see the Lord," 
how would you feel? Would you sleep much to-night? 
Could you sleep while thinking: to-morrow I am to see the 
King in His beauty ? Oh, some day we shall get that mes- 
sage. Well, I suppose John's heart leaped when he got that 
message. And then what would be his feelings when he 
saw the Master coming? Jesus said to him: "God sent 
you to baptize with water. Therefore it is a right thing that 
I should come to you and be washed with water in the Jor- 
dan." What meaning, do you say, is there in this ? Did 
not Christ say, " Suffer it to be so now ? " He was the Sin- 
Bearer, bearing our reputed sin, and as such the water of 
Jordan was laid upon Him, and all the sins put upon Him 
were completely washed away and put out of sight. Then 
J ohn saw a strange sight. The Heavens were opened ; the 



148 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



curtain of the sky was drawn aside; and wliat did he see? 
Angels? No; but he saw a sight that I do not know he 
would take in at first. He saw the Spirit descending in the 
form of a dove — the form or symbol of a dove — and it was 
made known to him that that was a symbol of the Spirit taking 
up His abode with Christ; as if He said: "Here is My rest; 
here will I dwell." Brethren, was ever a prophet honored 
like this ? Stand side by side with him, and hear the words 
addressed to Christ: " This is My beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased; " or, as another Evangelist has it, "Thou 
art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Do you 
wonder that John could testify boldly for Christ? He said 
of Him, "One mightier than I is coming; One the latchet 
of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 
He must increase. I must decrease. I must go out of sight. " 
And, brethren, you know what other things he said. 
" Christ," said he, " is the Judge, whose fan is in His hand, 
and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His 
wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with 
unquenchable hre." Then you know how beautifully He said 
of the Son of God: "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh 
away the sin of the world," " My joy therefore be ful- 
filled." And so he went on in his office, faithfully preach- 
ing to the people. When the publicans said: "Master, 
what shall we do?" he said, "Exact no more than that 
which is appointed you. Extort no more." And to the 
soldiers He said: " Do violence to no man, neither accuse 
any falsely. Leave that off." He struck at the prevailing 
sins of those before Him, and said, "Leave those off, and 
the world will know that there has been a change." It has 
been felt as a difficulty that there is not much of doctrine 
in John's preaching. The passage is cited: "We never so 
much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." Evidently 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



149 



the meaning of that is this: John always did preach about 
the Holy Ghost, and he had said, " He that cometh after me 
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. He will pour the 
Holy Ghost in large showers upon you." They said, when 
Paul asked them, " Have you got the Holy Ghost? " " We 
never heard that there was any shower of it " — just as when 
we are all looking for rain, and some one brings us the news 
of a large shower somewhere, we say, " We didn't know that 
there was such a shower." There is doctrine in John's 
preaching. Did he not say, " He that received His testi- 
mony hath set to his seal that God is tme " — "He that be- 
lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believ- 
eth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God 
abideth on him." 

A few words about the effects of his preaching. He was 
only six months a preacher. No more. Thirty years' prep- 
aration for six months' preaching! Let us note that re- 
markable thing. But those six months' preaching were 
months of mighty blessing. The effect of it was of this 
nature: It shook the whole of Judea; it shook Jerusa- 
lem; it shook the Temple. Men came out to him. He 
never went to them; they went out to him; there was 
such an amazing p(.)wer in his preaching and character. 
And you know the effects to this day. He left his im- 
press upon the church of that day; he has left his impress 
on the church of this day. Some of the things said 
about the effects of his preaching are very interesting- 
"Since John began to preach," says Christ, " the Kingdom 
of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by 
force;" that is to say, men are determined not to lose their 
opportunity; they snatch at the offer when it is within their 
reach. It must have been a mighty uprising. I wish we 
had such days again. When we get men of such fellowship 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



with God, I think we may expect days like those to dawn. 
Men will be coming to us from eveiy side and saying, " What 
must we do to be saved ? " 

Now the end. Eli as was taken up into Heaven in a 
fiery chariot. Very different was the end of John. Herod 
was rebuked by him. In his anger the king threw him 
into prison, in a castle near the Dead Sea. After he 
had lingered there for some time, he heard of what Christ 
was doing, and he sent two of his disciples to Him 
with the question: "Art Thou He, or do we look for 
another? " This was as much as if he said: ''Not a visit 
from Thee? Not a message from Thee? And yet I was 
sent to tell the nations concerning Thee! Is this like Thy 
compassion?" I don't think John had for a moment the 
slightest doubt as to His being the Savior; but he had doubt 
about His ways. Believers in times of s ado ess often doubt 
about God's ways. "What did Christ say ? " Go and tell 
John what you see — ^the lepers cleansed, the blind receiving 
their sight, and the dead being raised. I who can open the 
graves of the dead could open the prison doors if I liked. 
Tell him just to be content not to know the reason in the 
meanwhile; and say, Blessed is he who shall not be offended 
or stumbled by any of My doings." The messengers went 
away, and as soon as their backs were turned, Christ began 
to say, " Never was a prophet among all the prophets to be 
compared to John the Baptist!" By and by, John is be- 
headed. They tell Jesus. And what did Jesus do ? He 
said nothing about John. No doubt He felt deeply. No 
doubt if we had seen Him we would have seen the tears falling 
from His eyes. But He only said, " Let us go into a quiet 
place." No ado. He said nothing about John's reward. 
The Lord often does thus with His people. Believers lan- 
guish; but let them just wait a little; let them not be 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



151 



stumbled. It is the resurrection morning that is to explain 
all these proceedings. Oh, when the resurrection morning 
comes and the Lord returns, the mystery in all God's deal- 
ings with us will be unfolded. "What an explanation we 
will get! What a reward John will get! Don't think too 
much of how important you are to the Lord's work. You 
will pass away, and another will take your place. Do your 
work well, even if you don't obtain much recognition here. 
Your reward is to be hereafter, and a glorious reward it will 
be. I was in Palestine forty years ago, and there I saw the 
place where it was said John was buried. It was a mere 
tradition. But I noticed that there was no epitaph on the 
grave. If we were to write one, I think it would be this: 
" This is he of whom it hath been written. Behold, I send 
Thy messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way 
before Thee; " and then we would add that other verse, 
" Verily, I say unto you, among them that are born of 
women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Bap- 



tist" 




CHAPTER XVIII. 



HE MUST INCREASE. 

DISCOURSE BY DE. BONAE A HAED SAYING TO THE NATUEAL MAN 

" HE MUST INCEEASE AND I MUST DECEEASE " SEVEN THINGS 

THAT MAY BE TESTED BY THIS TOUCHSTONE. 

Dr. Bonar said: Let me ask you to read this one verse 
in the Gospel of John, iii, 30: "He must increase, but I 
must decrease." He must become greater and greater, and 
I must become less and less. 

The words are words spoken by the forerunner of Christ, 
John the Baptist, and he speaks them about his Master, the 
Xiord Jesus Christ, whom he is never weary of commending; 
and here is his emphatic declaration: "He must increase, 
He must increase." He had the mind of the Spirit in saying 
this, for it is said of the Holy Spirit that one chief part of 
His office is this: " He shall glorify Me," He shall make Me 
to be glorious; He shall unfold My glory in the soul into 
which He comes. And there is not a soul here which has 
the Spirit of Christ if that soul has not had the glory of 
Christ in some measure unfolded to him. If you have not 
seen any beauty in Him, you are without the Spirit. 

Dear brethren, there are many ways in which we might 
meditate on this saying of the Baptist, which the Holy Spirit 
has recorded for us. "He must increase." It is a thoui^ht 
delightful to all believers; there is no doubt that the Lord 
Jesus shall reign from sea to sea, from the river to the ends 

of the earth. His large and great dominion filling our earth; 

(152) 



HE MUST INCREASE. 



153 



but this is not the view I wish to take to-day. And then, 
again, we might dwell on what we might expect shall yet be 
our experience hereafter, when " our eyes shall see the King 
in His beauty." Believers are longing for the hour when 
we shall get a right view of what Jesus is. Aren't you long- 
ing for the coming of that time, when your anointed eyes 
shall no longer be dim; when you shall see the red Kose of 
Sharon unfolding its riches to us, and filling the air of 
Heaven with ravishing perfume ? There " glory, glory, 
dwelleth in Immanuel's land." 

Bat, dear brethren, I wish this morning to take the words 
and apply them to ourselves; I may say to ourselves individ- 
ually. John was speaking of himself, and at the same time 
setting before us a pattern of what all true disciples ought 
to be; what all workers for Christ should be; what all min- 
isters of Christ should be — exalters of Christ while they hide 
themselves. I once had a meeting of the Christian workers 
in my parish, and a very godly man, one of my elders, was 
late of coming into the meeting. Of course he did not know 
what had been said before he got there, and when he was to 
speak he did so in the following way: " I was coming along 
Argyle street " (the name of one of our busiest streets in 
Glasgow), " and I saw a crowd at a shop door, and I had the 
curiosity to look in to see what the people were taken up 
with. There I saw an auctioneer holding up a grand pict- 
ure, so that all could see it; and when he had got it in posi- 
tion, he stayed behind and said to the crowd, ' Now, look at 
this side of the picture, and now at this other side,' and so 
on, describing each part of it. Now," said this good man, 
"the whole time I never saw the speaker; it was just the 
picture he was showing; " and, turning to us, he said, 
"That is the way fco work for Christ." He must increase, 
but we must be out of sight. 



154 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Dear friends, let me show you in this passage these 
things very briefly: Discipleship, real discipleship, all be- 
gins here — " He must increase." Next, all true assurance 
lies here — "He must increase." Let me show you, then, 
that all progress in holiness depends on this: " He must 
increase." Let me further show you that the best praise, 
the highest, richest experience of praise that we have given 
to us on Divine authority amounts to this: "He must in- 
crease." Let me show you that backsliding may be detected 
by this test: "Is He increasing, and are you decreasing? 
Or is it the other way? " Let me show you that the cause 
of many sore afflictions in the case of God's people may be 
explained by this: "He must increase." And then let me 
show you that all true godliness, all true religion, may be 
tried, and must be tried, by this touchstone : " Does He in- 
crease, and self decrease ? " Now, these points we shall en- 
deavor to touch on very briefly in turn. 

John the Baptist that day had been saying much of his 
Master, He had proclaimed Him as the " Son of God." " I 
saw and bare record that this is the Son of God." Then 
he had proclaimed Him as the " Lamb of God, which taketh 
away the sin of the world; " the great sacrificial offering 
appointed by God, and spoken of in types for four thousand 
years, in the case of every lamb that was offered. This is 
the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. And he had 
just a little before said also, " He is the Bridegroom," the 
very face of whom will make the heart leap for joy. After 
saying all these things of his Master, he turned to some who 
were saying, in a sort of condoling way, to him, " Master ^ 
everybody is leaving you and going to Him; " and said, " I 
rejoice that it is so: He must increase, I must decrease; the 
Sun of Righteousness is now arising, and I must be lost in 
His brightness." And so all true discipleship begins in 



HE MUST INCREASE. 



155 



giving to Chrisfc this place. It is said of Josliua, after the 
day when he crossed Jordan, " from that day God began to 
magnify him in the eyes of all the people." And the word 
used is just like the one used here. It means that God be- 
gan to make Joshua great in the eyes of the rest of the 
nations. 

So, dear friends, it is from the hour when Christ 
appears great in the eyes of the soul that you have begun to 
be a disciple; it is from the day that you see Him who divi- 
ded Jordan, who rent the vail, that you begin to be a disci- 
ple, but not before. You may have deep convictions and 
awakenings, but you are not a disciple on that account. 
The bitterest enemies in the awakening we had forty years 
ago in Perth and Dundee were persons who had been once 
awakened, but who had never get farther. Take care of 
resting in conviction: we must go on to Christ. So long as 
you a-re just thinking of yourself and your sins, you are 
growing daily more selfish. You forget Christ; you give 
Him almost no place; you just wish He would come and 
help you, but that is all the place you give Him. Let Christ 
take the place He asks for in your heart, above all else. 
John the Baptist would have said to you, "Do you take 
Him as the Son of God ? Do you take Him as the Lamb 
of God that takes away the sin of the world? " The Ethi- 
opian eunuch began his discipleship at the Cross of Christ. 
You know that day his words to Philip were, " I believe that 
Jesus Christ is the Son of God; " and Philip began pointing 
Him out as the Lamb led to the slaughter, who was no other 
than the Son of God. What a mighty atonement! What 
an infinitely precious atonement is here! Yes; that can 
blot out innumerable sins. A man becomes a disciple when 
he takes this into his heart. Have you done so ? Are you 
like the weary traveler in a parched land seeing a great rock. 



156 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



and yet not pressing on to its shadow? You must sit down 
under the shadow of Christ or you are not a disciple. 

But now we go on another step, and say all true assur- 
ance is here. "He must increase." Well, let us take 
assurance in the lowest view of it; I mean in this form of 
it: If a sinner was in Christ, but was not comfortable, does 
that sinner get into rest, and peace, and joy? Very likely 
he has not yet reached that rest and peace and joy, because 
he was seeking them in themselves; instead of resting qui- 
etly upon his Savior, and so finding the true peace and joy. 
And when this flashes upon him, he exclaims, " I should 
have sought Christ, and not peace and joy!" And I don't 
know a more certain assurance than this, when a sinner thus 
gets a sight of Christ he had not before. The woman with 
an issue of blood is an example oi this. You know she 
touched the hem of His garment, and was cured at once; 
and yet she was afraid all the time that even Christ should 
kno^ it. She had faith, but it was very weak, and she 
had no assurance. You remember how the Master gave her 
assurance; called her out before them all, and said; " Go in 
peace, thy faith has saved thee." But remember, dear 
friends, faith is not assurance. We may have faith without 
assurance ; but faith always grows up into assurance. There 
was a man of God I used to know some years ago; and dur- 
ing his last illness before his death, I was in the habit of 
visiting him frequently; indeed, almost every day. A few 
days before he died, one morning when I called, his wife said 
to me, "I'll tell you an interesting thing happened this 
morning. I asked my husband, 'Are you as happy as ever 
this morning? ' And he said, 'I'm not thinking about hap- 
piness, or whether I'm happy or not; I'm just thinking 
about Christ, and I'm perfectly satisfied.' " And he passed 
away just like that. That, dear brethren, is assurance. Or 



HE MUST INCEEASE. 



157 



it may be like this: You have had a view of the salvation 
of Christ, but not a full view; you see that He can do a great 
deal for sinners; but it must increase. You must see that 
He can do a great deal more; that He can do everything 
needed to be done. Yoa will not have assurance until you 
get a full view of Christ and His finished work. The true, 
direct, real assurance is when we see Christ, and Christ only. 
It is, as a good man said, understanding what the cross of 
Christ is — how large and full it is. My dear friends, did 
you not once think that Christ was just like yon rock in the 
sea; you could stand upon it, if you were there, but the 
waves would be very likely to wash you off, back into the 
water ? But now you see how He can keep you, and keep 
all who put their trust in Him ; for He is the Rock of Ages. 
You have seen the breadth and height and depth of His love 
and power, and you have seen the infinite fullness of His 
atoning work, the suffering and dying of Him who was the 
Son incarnate of the living God. AVhen Dr. Payson was on 
his death-bed, he made wonderful advances in spiritual life. 
He said one day: "I used to look to Christ, and used to see 
Him to be a bright Star; but since I have been laid here, I 
have seen Him to be far more — He is a glorious Sun. He 
fills the whole sphere of my being." And that's very much 
what assurance is. 

But now to go another step. True holiness consists in 
this: Christ increasing. Paul says, in Eph., ix, 24, " Put on 
the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness 
and true holiness," or "the holiness of truth;" the holiness 
that is connected with the truth. You know there is a holi- 
ness disconnected with the truth. Well, now, Peter, telling 
wliat holiness is, does it in this way; finishing his second 
Epistle, he says: " Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of 
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Grace there is equiva- 



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GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



lent to holiness or sanotification. And that is holiness — 
growing in acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Although Paul is always talking about holiness, not more than 
half a dozen times will you find him speaking about holiness 
directly. In one place he says, " We all, with open face, 
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
in the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
of the Lord." This is sanctification — looking in your Bible 
at the glory of the Lord, and as you are going from glory 
to glory, the Spirit changes you into the same likeness. 
But again, writing to the Galatians, how does Paul express 
holiness? " Separation from the world." "God forbid that 
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the 
world." It is all of Christ; it is Christ that separates us 
from the world; Christ received and welcomed into the 
heart. Or again, writing to the Ephesians, how does he 
write? Why, just in this way: He says he has gone down 
on his knees to seek holiness for them ; and you might ex- 
pect him at least here to use the word holiness, but he doesn't. 
" That He would grant you according to the riches of His 
glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the 
inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; 
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to 
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, 
and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, wkich 
passeth knowledge." This, then, is sanctification — to know 
Christ fully. But again, Philippians, Paul uses still another 
form of expression. He says he is counting all things but 
loss that he may win Christ; and is ever seeking more and 
more " to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and 
the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable 
urto His death." Or again, in Colossians, how does he 



HE MUST INCREASE. 



159 



write ? " Seek those things which are above, where Christ 
sitteth on the right hand of God." And so I might go on 
to show you again and again how the New Testament speaks 
of this matter of sanctification; but we cannot dwell longer 
upon it It seems to me Paul almost always speaks of holi- 
ness in this indirect way. Now, if a man has got a good 
deal to say of himself and his own doings, you may be pretty 
certain he lacks holiness. We must seek to be lost in 
Christ, to forget self in Christ. Dear brethren, are you 
willing to be as a mote in the beams of the Sun of Right- 
eousness ? Are you willing to be nothing for the Master's 
sake? "None of self, and all of Thee! " 

Now, a few words upon another matter that I mentioned 
— the matter of praise. The highest experience recorded in 
the Word of God of this nature, where do we find it ? Why, 
in the book of the Revelation of John. The highest expe- 
rience is that of the saints in glory. J ohn saw a door opened 
and listened to what they were singing there; and he heard 
what they sang, and what was it ? " Thou art worthy to take 
the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain 
and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every 
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." And then 
they went on, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
and glory, and blessing." " Blessing, and honor, and glory, 
and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Then, did they not 
wave their palms, the eternal green palms put into their 
hands, and sing? Did they not point to the robes of pure 
whiteness? No! Did they not say anything about their 
crowns? No, brethren; all was of what Christ had done. 
Everything must go to exalt Him. They cast their crowns 
at His feet, and they cast themselves, too. So must it be 



160 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



with us, if we are to be taken up to join that glorious com- 
pany of the redeemed, and sing in that celestial choir. 

But I pass on. I want to say a word about trying back- 
sliding by this test. You may find out whether or no you 
ai*e a backslider by means of this test: "Is Christ increasing 
or decreasing?" Now, don't mistake me. Perhaps there is 
some one here who is disappointed with the world; you have 
got some sad repulses, and you say: "'Well, self has de- 
creased in me, at any rate." I am not so sure about that- 
An old man in my parish once maintained that he was bom 
again; and when I asked him why he thought so, he said it 
was for this reason: When he was a young man, he liked 
sports and games and amusements, and all that sort of thing; 
but now, he said, he didn't care for anything of that kind; 
and so he though b he was a changed man. He believed that 
when Christ came, old things passed away ; but he left out 
the latter part of the verse, "all things become new." Welh 
let us go into a few details. If Christ has not increased in 
you, then self must have increased. Again, have you had of 
late less relish for the world than you had before ? Do you 
care to go with God's people ? Do you indulge the flesh in 
any form whatever ? It may be love of pleasure ; it may be 
business is encroaching upon you ; it may be the cares of this 
life. You know Christ says, just before He comes again 
men will be overtaken not only by drunkenness and revel- 
ings and such like, but by the cares of this life. Have you 
less room for Christ, less place for Christ? It is all-impor- 
tant you should find out whether it is so or not. When your 
heart gets a liking for forms and ceremonies it doesn't look 
well. It seems as if you were tired of the Gospel in its 
plainness. But sum it all up in this: What do you say about 
your fellowship with Him — is it increasing or decreasing? 
Must you honestly say that you have not had much fellow- 



HE MUST INCREASE. 



161 



ship with Him latterly ? Have you the same delight in hear- 
ing of Him as the Lamb of God; as the Bridegroom who is 
coming to the marriage supper, and coming quickly? 

But once more: I said that by this test we may perhaps 
ascertain the reason of the afflictions of God's dear children. 
It seems sometimes hard to find out any reason for God's 
dealings with His children. We may not be able to find 
out what it is, and think that perhaps it is because of some 
undiscovered sin; but I don't think God often acts in that 
way. He generally likes to let His people know their faults, 
when He chastises them. You remember when Absalom 
could not get Joab to come and talk with him, he burnt up 
his corn-fields, and then he came. Now, the Lord often 
sends sore afflictions upon His children in order that they 
may come and talk with Him more. You know Christ took 
away Lazarus in order that the sisters might send for Him, 
and that the people through all ages might get a wondrous 
discovery of Him as the E-esurrection and the Life. And 
you remember how John the Baptist was taken away from 
his disciples in order that they might go to Christ. 

Now I come to a conclusion. Here is a test of all true 
religion, and all true godliness. " What think ye of Chiist ? " 
Take care of the Devil's subtle poison that he is injecting 
just now, that it doesn't matter what a man's creed is if his 
life is right. Dear friend, no man's life is right till his 
creed is right; and if his creed is wrong, his life can't be 
right. He may be right with man, but he can't be right 
with God. "What think ye of Christ?" Is He great to 
you? Is He increasing higher and higher? If you are 
resting your religion upon any other foundation than Jesus 
Christ, why, then, you are jusi building on the sand, and 
your religion is false. Perhaps you say, " I am very dili- v 
gent upon ordinances; I am attentive to all my family and 



162 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



public duties; I keep the Sabbath, read the Word." But, 
my dear friend, that's all about yourself; that doesn't look 
like Christ. You must come to the question, Is Christ the 
Son of the Father to you ? is He the center of all your reli- 
gion? and are you weary of hearing Christ, or do you go 
away weary from the church where Christ has been preached ? 
You can detect what your religion is in this way: Is Christ 
only a medicine to you, only a medicine to heal your soul ? 
That is good as far as it goes, but then it does not go far 
enough. He must be your daily food; you must make Him 
your feast each day. Only let Him increase, and you will 
increase also. It is only through our connection with Him 
that we will be raised up. We must seek to be like that 
martyr of old, who, as the flames were leaping up around 
him, cried out, ''None but Christ, none but Christ." And 
then soon He will come to take us home to Himself, and we 
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



REVIVALS. 

ADDRESSES BY ME. MOODY, DR. GEORGE E. PENTECOST, OF BROOKLYN* 

DR. PLUMB, OF BOSTON, AND DR. BONAR REVIVALS NOT A. 

MODERN INSTITUTION OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED HOW THEY 

MAY BE PROMOTED. 

Mr. Moody said: I am going to speak for a few min- 
utes on the subject of revivals, and then let others take it 
up. I will not confine myself to any part of the subject, 
and I would like to say that if any thoughts occur to any 
one during the session upon this subject, and you would like 
to ask any questions, write them out. and some of us will 
try to answer them. Now, a great many people seem to 
think that revivals are something of modern date, belonging 
only to this generation. But if you will take your Bible 
and look over it carefully, you will find that they are a very 
old institution. I don't know that there were any revivals 
before the flood — at least we have no record of any. But, 
to begin with, the deliverance of Israel from the bondage 
of Egypt was nothing but a mighty revival. And then 
again, when Joshua called the people together just before 
his departure, it was to try to call the nation back to God, 
and there was a revival. All through the history of Israel 
we find one revival after another. Grod raised up one man 
after another whenever revivals were needed. In 1 Samuel, 
he 7th chapter, from the 3d to the 7th verse, we read: 

And Samnel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If 

(163) 



164 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put 
away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and 
prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve Him only; and 
He will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines. 
Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashta- 
roth, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said, Gather 
all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord. 
And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and 
poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and 
said there, We have sinned against the Lord." That was 
a mighty revival in the days of Samuel — nothing more or 
less than the turning of a whole nation back to God. They 
had backslidden. Their hearts were cold. They had idols 
among them. One reason why people don't like revivals is, 
that they don't want to put away their idols. Jacob down 
there at Shechem, when the Lord told him to arise and go 
to Bethel, had to call his family together and bury their 
household gods under an oak tree. They had to have a 
funeral of those household gods. The trouble with us some- 
times is, that we are down at Shechem, and we want to stay 
there. The church has strange gods. It has a great many 
idols. The sons and daughters of J acob put away their strange 
gods so that God could visit them, and then came the breath 
of heaven, and they were revived. When I was in Scotland 
a few years ago, Dr. Bonar threw out this idea. We have 
just been reading about the revival in the time of Samuel. 
It is quite possible that Jonathan and David might have 
been converted at that revival. They showed very good 
signs of being converf-,ed, and f hey must have been converted 
somewhere. Why not in that time, when the whole nation 
was turning to God? — those two young men: Jonathan, who 
was afterward the king's son, and David, who was to be 
anointed king over Israel. I want to say right here that the 



REVIVALS. 



165 



great reason why so many Christians — so-called Christians — 
are against revivals, is because they are mixed up with the 
world. The world doesn't want revivals. When you men- 
tion revivals among worldly people, you will see a sneer and 
a scornful look. And for fear of being out of keeping with 
the world, a great many so-called Christians throw their 
influence against revivals. But I want to call your atten- 
tion to this fact, that there never has been anything good 
from the time God put Adam and Eve into Eden that didn't 
have enemies — bitter enemies. We must expect opposition. 
If a work has no enemies, God is not in it. Everything 
that has been good in this world has had its bitter enemies. 
When Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, look at the 
opposition he had there. Tarn for a moment to the 4th 
chapter of Nehemiah, beginning at the 1st verse: "But it 
came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded 
the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and 
mocked the Jews.'' There are a lot of Sanballats nowadays. 
You have them in almost every church in Christendom. 
"And he spake before his brethren and the army of Sama- 
ria, and said, What do these feeble J ews ? will they fortify 
themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a 
day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the 
rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah, the Ammonite, 
was. by him, and he said, Even that which they build; if a 
fox go up he shall even break down their stone wall." 
There was the opposition that Nehemiah had in his day. 
Then, again, in the 6th chapter of the same prophecy, and 
the 3d verse, we read: "And I sent messengers unto them, 
saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come 
down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and 
come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times after 
this sort; and I answered them after the same manner." 



166 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Then in the 11th verse: And I said, Should such a man 
as I Hee? and who is there, that, being as I aro, would go 
into the temple to save his life ? I will not go in. And lo, I 
perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced 
this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had 
hired him." You see, they had got a so-called Jew — She- 
maiah — and brought up his influence against Nehemiah. 
He had enemies inside as well as outside. And isn't that 
our difficulty to-day ? There are a great many people wha 
are very good p^ple, but they are enemies of revivals. 
There are enemies inside and enemies outside, and it is a 
great deal harder to fight the enemies inside than the ene- 
mies outside. I would rather — a great deal rather — fight 
Satan than a church Deacon. It is hard to do anything 
when the churches, and ministers even, set their faces like 
flint against revival work. This took place in the time of 
Nehemiah, and it is taking place at the present time. A 
great many very good men lift up their voices against revi- 
vals. There was a church I knew where there hadn't been 
a conversion for twelve long years — not one accession — and 
the minister was doing all he could to check a revival that 
was springing up. He shook his wise head and said that 
revivals were pernicious, and he scared a great many of hid 
church people so that they were afraid of having a revival 
— some of them very good men, too; but I believe it is our 
being in conformity with the world, being hand in glove with 
the world, that makes us afraid of revivals. As long as we 
are joined to the world we cannot expect God to visit us, but, 
when the whole people bow before God and forsake the world, 
He will give us a great revival in answer to prayer. Look 
at 2 Chronicles, 20th chapter and the 4th verse: "And Judah 
gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord. " And 
in the 18th verse: " And Jehoshaphat bowed his head, with 



REVIVALS. 



167 



his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord." They 
had a mighty revival. Now, take the Israelites in the days 
of Elijah. Infidelity had crept in among them, and they had 
gone back to the worship of idols — the service of Baal. The 
religion of their fathers was dying out. Elijah was raised 
up by God to shake the nation as it had not been shaken for 
many years. There was a time when I thought I would like 
to have lived in the days of Elijah and John the Baptist; 
but I got over that many years ago. Why? Well, when- 
ever a prophet makes his appearance on the scene, you may 
be sure that just then everything is in the very worst state; 
darkness has settled down over the land; the nation is given 
over to infidelity and idolatry. You can't find a case in the 
whole Bible where a prophet has made his appearance but 
that at that time there was midnight darkness. Whenever 
the deepest darkness settled over the land, God raised up a 
prophet to bring the people back to Himself. Elijah was 
raised up for this, and his work was nothing but a revival. 
The scene on Mount Carmel was a most wonderful revival 
I can imagine some of those wise old Carmelites shaking 
their heads and saying: " This is a great revival, but these 
men won't hold out. There is a gTeat turning to the Lord, 
but I tell you it won't last." There are lots of these men 
nowadays. When there is a revival, they shake their heads 
and say, "It won't hold out. They will go back again." 
Some of these men wouldn't have raised Lazarus from the 
dead because he would die again! If a man tumbled into 
the river, they would say, "Don't rescue him; he will tum- 
ble in again, or he will die some other way." Now, some of 
the people converted at revivals do go back; and I want to 
say right here, that if every man would hold out and prove 
faithful, the Bible wouldn't be true. There will always be 



168 



GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



four kinds of hearers — those four kinds described by Christ 
-—down to the end of time; and because some men prove un- 
true and prove unfaithful, that is nt)thing against revivals. 
Well, the children of Israel had no revival for about four 
hundred years before John the Baptist made his appearance 
in the wilderness. Darkness, nothing but darkness, had set- 
tled over the nation. The people were going back to infi- 
delity, and many of them were going over to idolatry. Every 
thing was dark. Then John made his appearance, and for 
six months, there on the banks of the Jordan, never was a 
nation so suddenly or mightily stirred. In Matthew, 3d 
chapter and 5th and 6th verses, we read: " Then went out to 
him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round 
about Jordan. And were baptized of him in Jordan, con- 
fessing their sins." Then Christ took up that wilderness 
cry, the cry that had resounded over the plains and hills — 
" Repent! Repent! " I tell you there was an intense ex- 
citement, and the people were mightily awakened. The for- 
malist didn't like Him. Herod didn't like Him. But He 
went on till the whole nation was moved. And then He sent 
out His disciples two by two — perhaps one to sing and the 
other to preach — and said: "Go through the country and 
visit every town." And out they went. Tell me there wasn't 
excitement! The world was stirred, and Judaism began to 
shake and totter. Oh, no! this isn't something new. Reviv- 
als are not a thing only of modern days, lately come upon 
the church. That is all false. 

Then another thing: Some people think that because 
revival w»irk doesn't turn out as the world expects, it is a 
failure. Now, bear in mind that what is highly esteemed 
with man is an abomination with God, and what is highly 
esteemed with God is an abomination with man. The end 
of John's work was the sword — he lost his head; and I sup- 



REVIVALS. 



169 



pose the enemies of Joliu would be sure to say: "Well, 
didn't I tell you so ? It was a nine days' wonder, and then 
all was over. Where is your wilderness preacher now ? He 
is dead! He is beheaded." And then look at Christ. The 
end of His preaching was the cross. If you had stood there, 
jou would have heard men saying His work was a failure. 
Bear in mind that what man sets down as a failure may be 
a great success in the sight of God. Look at the Apostles. 
Every one of them, nearly, died a martyr's death, and the 
■end of their mighty revival was the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem. ISTo doubt people saw the flock of Christ, few in num- 
bers and scattered all over the world, and they said, " Where 
is the fruit of that great revival ? The fruit is all gone." 
But don't be deceived. The fruit of the revival of Pente- 
cost lives to-day in the earth. After 1,800 years have passed 
away, the results are all around you. It was sudden. It 
was quick. John only preached six months, and he was 
beheaded. Christ only preached three years, and His minis- 
try was over. The Apostles only preached a few years, and 
they were gone. Pentecost was sudden; it was all over in 
a few days; but it still lives, and will live as long as the 
church of God is on earth. That work in those few days has 
been going on ever since. When the outward signs of a 
revival have disappeared, don't think for a moment that the 
work has ended. It has not. 

Then another thing: A great many churches set their 
faces against revivals. But if you will read church history, 
you will find that every church in this country has been the 
offshoot of revivals. The Roman Catholic Church claims to 
be Apostolic. Well, then, if they are Apostolic, they sprang 
from Pentecost, didn't they? The Episcopalian Church 
believes in Apostolic succession. Then they must have come 
from the mighty revival wrought by the Apostles. The 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Lutheran Churches set their faces like flint against revivals, 
but what a mighty revivalist was Martin Luther. The Meth- 
odist Church sprang from the revivals of Wesley and White- 
field. And yet you will hear a great many men that are 
members of these different denominations lifting up their 
voices and shaking their wise heads against revivals, saying 
they are pernicious. Oh, the church has got into a back- 
slidden state, and the church is letting the world in. That 
is the difficulty. It doesn't follow, when men speak against 
revivals, that they don't really believe in revival work. Get 
down into their hearts, and get them to talk honestly, an i 
they will have to admit that it is a work of God. I was in 
a town not very long ago. The people didn't go to church, 
and the pastor was very much grieved about it. He didn't 
know what to do. Something ought to be done, and yet he 
was in doubt whether there would be any real benefit from 
a revival. One day, he took the church record, and looked 
over the names of the church members, and to his surprise he 
found that over four-fifths of his church membership had 
been converted in time of revival. I think that a great 
many members will find the same experience, if they will 
only just look into it carefully. I think, if we would just 
look over this audience, and ask those that were converted in 
time of revival to rise, a great many would spring to their 
feet and say: "I was converted in time of revival." 

Now, let us consider a few objections to revivals. A 
great many object to the noise, the " unhealthy excitement." 
Why, there is more excitement in a race-com-se in one day 
than you will see in a church in fifty days. In some places 
I have been passing through, I have seen more excitement in 
one day than there ever was in this church, or ever will be, 
probably. Get into a political campaign, and you will see 
more excitement than in a hundred religious meetings. 



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" Undue excitement! tliey say. " Some people will get out 
of their minds." The fact is, the world is out of its mind, 
anyway. It wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes to prove 
that the world is crazy. Again, some people object to revi- 
vals, because, they say, "it isn't in the regular order." Ee- 
member that it was chui'ch dignity that crucified Christ. 
The Sanhedrim were very careful of church dignity, and so 
they had to put Christ out of the way. He didn't come in 
the regular way — in the regular line. You never find a single 
prophet that comes in the regular ] ine. God wil I always work 
in His own way. He will mai^k out channels for Himself. 
We need to learn this lesson, and just stand aside and let 
Him work — let Him work as He pleases. Now, I must stop 
right here, for I want to hear from a great many others. If 
you think of any question you would like to ask, just write 
it out, and we will try to answer it. 

Dr. Pentecost said: Let us tm'n to the 15th chapter of 
2 Corinthians: "And the Spirit of God came down upon 
Azariah the son of Oded." It came upon one man. A spe- 
cial work of God often begins with some one man or some 
one woman. If we were to trace the history of revivals, I 
think we would find that they generally begin in some one 
man's or woman's heart. " And he went out to meet Asa, 
and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and 
Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you be with Him." 
This is one of the unchangeable laws of spiritual life and 
spiritual power. "And if ye seek Him, He will be found of 
you: but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you." It is 
strange we do not put ourselves into these simple conditions 
and recognize them, as we recognize the law of gravity and 
pay such deference to it. They are perfectly infallible — just 
as infallible as the laws of nature. "Now for a long season 
Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teach- 



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GEMS FROM NORTH FIELD. 



ing priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble 
did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He 
was found of them." Just as Mr. Moody has said: When- 
ever people begin to recognize their poverty, their misery, 
and turn again to God, they will be found of God. " And 
in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor 
to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the 
inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of 
nation, and city of city." It was not very different from 
the time we have now. We cannot be without a revival long 
without judgments from Heaven on the land. "Be ye 
strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your 
work shall be rewarded." And when Asa heard these words, 
and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and 
put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah 
and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from 
Mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that 
was before the porch of the Lord." First he banishes the 
idols, and then he renews the altar of the Lord. "And he 
gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with 
them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon. 
For they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they 
saw that the Lord his God was with him. So they gathered 
themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month in the 
fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered unto 
the Lord the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, 
seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they 
entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers 
with all their heart and all their soul; that whosoever would 
not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, 
whether small or great, whether man or woman," That is 
the way they did with people that opposed revivals in those 
days. " And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, 



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173 



and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 
And all Judea rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with 
all their heart, and sought Him with their whole desire ; and 
He was found of them : and the Lord gave them rest round 
about." 

Now, just look at two or three simple facts here — and 
doubtless these histories are recorded that we may learn 
from them. The spiritual law that underlies these Jewish 
histories is precisely the same law that underlies the move- 
ments of the Spirit now. In the first place, you will notice, 
at the 10th verse: "So they gathered themselves together at 
Jerusalem in the third month in the fifteenth year of the 
reign of Asa." Now, I believe that there never is to be a 
real awakening amongst the people of God unless there is a 
movement to gather the people together. Allien the people 
are together, with one accord, in one place, with one heart 
and with one mind, they are sure to meet the Spirit of God, 
or the Spirit is sure to meet them. And then, in the second 
place, " They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God 
of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul." 
Now, a great many Christians are afraid of anything like 
enterincy into covenants— of bindino^ themselves; but I tell 
you our purposes are so weak sometimes that we have got to 
make covenants — to put a chain around ourselves. We have 
very good purposes of the spirit, but our pui'poses are so 
borne down by the weight of the flesh, by the inertia of our 
natural lives, that we have to make covenants. " And they 
sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, 
and with trumpets and with cornets. " They made some noise 
about it then. They didn't do this thing in a corner. They 
took their stand before Heaven and earth, and before all the 
people, and they proclaimed that they were in dead solemn 
earnest about this matter. Well, this is the way this great 



174 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



revival came about: They asseiabled themselves together. 
They made a covenant. They bound themselves with an 
oath; and they did it before all the world, not in a corner. 
And they swore that they would seek the Lord with all their 
hearts. In the 8th verse, we read: " And when Asa heard 
these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took 
courage." Now, if we are going to have a revival, or any 
good work of God, we must take courage. When Joshua 
went up into the land of Canaan, though he had the promise 
of God that he would possess the land, yet six times God 
exhorted him to be of good courage. Keep up your courage. 
You will find a great many things to discourage you. No 
Christian will be without great difficulties and causes of 
discouragement. But the Lord says, "Be strong and of a 
good courage." Then we read that Asa " put away abomi- 
nable idols." There we get to the core of the matter. They 
had courage, and the first thing this courage was turned to 
was to the idols. It takes a great deal of courage to deal 
with yourself. You may be courageous in dealing with your 
neighbors, or dealing with sin abstractly ; but when you come 
to put away the idols in your own life — idols of lust, idols of 
mammon, idols of pleasure, and all those thousand things 
that entangle and enchain us, keeping us so mixed with the 
world that we dare not move to the right hand nor to the left 
— that requires corn-age. Yet you will notice that when 
God puts forth His Spirit, one of the first results is that we 
destroy our idols. When Paul was at Ephesus, and the sor- 
cerers were converted, the first thing they did was to bring 
all their buoks and burn them. When a liquor -dealer is 
converted, the first thing he does is, not to sell his stock, but 
destroy it. The testimony of the Spirit of God to the Thes- 
salonians is that they turned from idols- —turned their backs 
upon what they had cherished all their lives. No matter 



REVIVALS. 



175 



what might happen, they abandoned them. And so, when 
we are going to have a revival, we must fall into the line of 
these historical precedents, and destroy the idols out of the 
land. And yet one thing more: We are told that they 
"offered unto the Lord the same time" a large part of the 
spoil. I think one of the cm*ses of the church of God to day 
is covetousness. God has given us a challenge by one of 
His prophets: -'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse." 
It is a complaint of the Lord that we love money better than 
His cause. Thousands of dollars are spent on pleasure, on 
the adornment of our houses, on the gratification of worldly 
lusts — all, of course, within limits of certain accepted and 
recognized proprieties. The church of God, from one end 
of the land to the other, is burdened with mortgages, stag- 
gering under church debts, starving missionaries in the East 
and in the West, making miserable allowance for the exten- 
sion of Christ's kingdom abroad, while millions are crying 
for the Gospel. We must bring in the tithes. Some peo- 
ple say, looking at the sad condition of things, " We must 
pray more; we must do more work." My dear friends, the 
word "tithes" in the Bible means only one thing, and that 
is money. I believe it would be a great test for the people 
of God to put them on that text: "Bring ye all the tithes 
into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, 
and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will 
not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a 
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." 
I think it is a great deal easier for Christians to pray than 
to pay: and if every prayer was to be taxed with a free-will 
offering, the prayers of a great many Christians would be cut 
very short. Cornelius' prayers and his alms went up together. 
One of the chief enemies of the spiritual life is the love of 
money; and God strikes it right there. "Bring in," He 



176 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



says, "your free-will offerings, and see if I will not pour you 
out a blessing." 

I want just to call your attention to one thing more. We 
are told they renewed their altars. Now, how the altars of 
God are broken down! Family altars are broken down. 
Church altars are broken down. It is a marvelous thing if 
you can get eight per cent of the church membership into the 
prayer meeting regularly. The great mass of the church 
members of our land don't go to prayer meeting often. And 
you may set it down as pretty sure that when a man doesn't 
go to prayer meeting regularly, he has no family altar. And 
if a man has no family altar, it isn't likely that he has much 
prayer in the closet. One of the signs of a revival is a 
renewal of the altars of God. We are to sweep away the 
abominable idols, and lay our substance — all that we are or 
have — upon the altar in consecration to God. 

Just look at it. They gathered themselves together. 
They made a covenant together to seek the Lord. They bound 
themselves with an oath to keep that covenant. They did 
it in the face of all the people. They began to restore the 
broken altars. They began to bring in their tithes. And 
then we are told that the Lord gave them a great blessing. 
They had " sought Him with their whole desire," " and He 
was found of them." 

The Kev. Mr. Plumb, of Boston, said: If there is any 
one thing in this poor world over which the angels grieve, 
I think it is the opposition of good men to revivals of relig- 
ion; and I wish in my heart it might come to an end. A 
great many ministers and laymen, those who want religion 
to prevail, are not desirous of having revivals; and I think it 
is largely owing to a misunderstanding. They seem to think, 
for one thing, that having evangelists will do away with the 
regular ministry. But see Eph. , iv, 1 1 : "He gave some apos- 



REVIVALS. 



177 



ties, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pas- 
tors and teachers." The efforts of evangelists come to supple- 
ment, and not to supplant, the work of the regular pastors. 
It is also objected that revivals are in the way of the steady 
growth of the work of Christ in a church. Now, I need not 
say which I would rather have — the regular or the special 
work — for one need not exclude the other. I'd rather have 
both. Each work has its advantages. By all means be 
faithful in the regular work. Let us train up our children 
so that they will come naturally into the kingdom. But you 
will notice that the church where the regular work has been 
most thoroughly carried on is the very best field for evan- 
gelistic effort. Oh, we must have revivals! Then again, 
many of our dear brethren are opposed to revivals because 
they would have to work. But they don't know the luxury 
of bringing souls to Christ. Let them once engage in this 
work, and they will wish to be always in it. 

Dr. Bonar, being asked by Mr. Moody to speak, said: I 
would not venture to say anything upon the state of the 
churches in this country, but I may speak of the churches in 
Scotland. We have over there felt the power of God in reviv- 
al work. But one great hindrance in the ministry through- 
out Scotland is this: that there is little of Christ preached. 
The trouble with our young men, and with a great many of 
our more experienced meo, is that they get into the way of 
preaching ap "culture," "culture." They never attack an 
evangelical doctrine; they would not go out of their way to 
say a thing against revival work ; but they don't preach Christ. 
That is the complaint of our godly people in the cities and 
over the land. I don't know how it is with you, but I ex- 
pect that is the grand hindrance to revival work in your 
country. [Mr. Moody — Yes.] And I have noticed this: 
Personally, I don't know a preacher in our church who 



178 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



preaches Christ from Sabbath to Sabbath that isn't able to 
report every year a great many souls gathered in. I don't 
know an exception to that. But, you know, it is not only a 
fashionable thing not to preach Christ, but rather to change 
the subject — not only that, but, you know, that style of things 
degenerates into this, that when a minister whom you must 
believe — you have no reason to doubt — is a godly man, 
preaches a full sermon on salvation once in six weeks, he 
seems to feel relieved from responsibility to do so for the 
other five weeks. I know that is the state of things in many 
parts of our church. 

Now, isn't this a startling truth? Look into the Bible, 
and see what they preached in old times. In the Taberna- 
cle days in the time of Moses; in the Temple, too, until the 
time when Christ appeared — what was the sermon preached ? 
"The Lamb Slain" — the morning sacrifice. Every after- 
noon, just aboTit this time of the day (about 4 o'clock), there 
was another sermon preached ; it was the same text, " The 
Lamb Slain " — the evening sacrifice. There might be twenty 
other sacrifices going on, but there were these two at any 
rate. And it was the same text every day in the week, every 
week in the month, every month in the year, for 1,500 years, 
except when they were in Babylon, and I dare say they kept 
it up there as best they could. I wonder what our people 
would say if we were to give them the same text and preach 
from it every Sunday. And what would they say if we were 
not only to give the same text, but give them the same 
heads and the same illustrations — for it was the same illus- 
tration ail the time: the Lamb slain. Now, I don't want to 
say that any minister should do this. We have plenty in 
our Bible to give variety. But we have here brethren of 
different denominations gathered together, and without the 
slightest hesitation they all agree that the more we preach 



REVIVALS. 



179 



Christ crucified on every occasion that we have the oppor- 
tunity, the more we will be blessed. I have seen it so. 

And I have noticed another thing. Wherever we see 
troubles in congregations, it is a sign that those congregations 
have not been doing their full duty in presenting Christ to 
a lost world. I will not say without exception, but as a rule, 
the troubles are not found in congregations where minister 
and people are busy with revival work. They get so busy 
in the work of God that they give no more attention than is 
needful to minor matters, and everything goes on harmoni- 
ously. I know this : I have no trouble in my own congregation 
with either elders or deacons or the people ; and I think the 
reason is this : how wonderfully God has given me men who 
have gone heartily along. I don't mean to say there are 
not those who criticise; we have that too; but we have been 
so occupied, every one at work, that we go forward with one 
heart and one aim. 

And now, I don't want to end without another word. 
Some of those listening may be saying, " Well, this is a day 
for remarks upon churches and ministers; " but revival work 
must come home to the individual. Here, then, let me speak 
a word to the individual believer. What can you do in this 
matter? I suppose you have read about the rain tree in 
Mexico. It is a very remarkable tree. Travelers tell us 
above it. It grows to a height of sixty feet, and it will be, 
perhaps, about three feet in diameter at the root. Well, 
that tree has a singular quality. Ic imbibes and condenses 
moisture from the atmosphere as no other tree does. On that 
account, it is called the rain tree. It does this to such a 
degree that generally the bark of the trunk of the tree is 
found to be dripping wet, and at the foot of the tree there 
is something like a little sweat. And the same travel- 
ers say that it is very remarkable that this rain tree not only 



180 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



takes in moisture in the damp season, but in the midst of 
summer, when the rivers run low, and the brooks round 
about are nearly dry, then it is that it imbibes the most 
moisture, and is dripping the most with it. So you see we 
have here a pictiu-e for believers. You may be lamenting 
the want of life in your congregation or neighborhood. Will 
you be a rain tree ? Will you imbibe moisture ? The Holy 
Spirit through the Word is giving it to you. Will you take 
it in ? The drier others are around you, will you take in 
the more for their sake ? But another thing. It is a good 
thing to see a dozen rain trees together. If we had that in 
every neighborhood, if those trees would pour out their 
streams together upon this country, we would soon see an 
altered country-side. Well, believers may do this one with 
another. If they do, there is no congregation, there is no 
neighborhood, where there shall not be work done for God. 
Dr. Pentecost made the remark — and there is a great deal of 
truth in it — that a revival in a place often begins with one 
person. When Mr. Hammond was in our country — at least, 
when his labors began to be abundantly blessed — it was in 
the year 1860 — he was working in one of our towns, and he 
had scarcely carried on meetings there for a week before 
there was a wonderful blessing begun. But here was the 
singular thing about it. It was soon known among the be- 
lievers that there had been one individual — a lady, who 
wished to have gone out as a missionary, but was forbidden 
on account of her ill health — laid aside, indeed, as an inva- 
lid — that lady had for three or four years done little else 
than wait on the Lord for an awakening. And the godly 
people said, " Mr. Hammond is the instrument God has used 
to answer her prayers." And in Annan — it is not a large 
place — there was scarcely a house in which there was not 
some one awakened. It was a wonderful revival, and it 



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181 



began very much with one person waiting on the Lord. 
Let us, at any rate, each of us do our part; and the Lord 
will not be slack to give us what we ask. 

Mr. Moody said: Dr. Bonar, you are an old man — up- 
ward of seventy. You have had a great deal of experience 
that younger men have not had. Those who are brought 
out in time of revival, are they as vigorous and healthy 
Christians as those brought out in the ordinary way? 

Dr. Bonar — Certainly they are. Those converted in time 
of revival are just as healthy and more useful, generally more 
active, than those that have been brought in at other times. 
But we never make the comparison. We are glad to have 
them either way. 

Mr. Moody said: One written question has come in — 
"How can we promote revivals in the dark and crowded por- 
tions of our large cities?" I think that the best way to ^ 
reach people of that kind is by cottage prayer meetings. You 
take thousands of those mothers that are poor, and haven't 
got servants, with large families perhaps — it is out of the 
question for them to go to church. They can't go. I noticed 
last week a lady come in here with a baby, and the baby 
cried. That's the kind of music I like to hear; but all the 
people were looking, and I saw the lady take the baby away. 
It made her uncomfortable, and I suppose she said, " I will 
not go again." Now, this class of people is a very easy one 
to reach. They have large hearts. A mother who has got 
eight or ten children has had a chance to let her heart grow. 
Go right down into those cottages, and get the mothers and 
the babies together. Let the babies cry; it will not matter. 
I had a meeting in London where each mother had to bring 
a baby. That was the ticket. A woman couldn't get in un- 
less she brought a baby. You never heard such crying, but 
it was a blessed meeting. One godly woman can do a great 



182 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



deal of good by starting a cottage prayer meeting in her 
house. Go right down into those cottages in the spirit of 
the Master: go into the kitchen, and while the housewife is 
working, talk and sing, and get her to join you in prayer, 
and you cannot tell what will be the result. We want more 
rain trees. I don't believe there is a man or woman that 
can't help on the Lord's work if he will. 

Dr. Pentecost asked: How far ought a pastor of a church 
to seek for a revival of religion outside of what is technically 
called his parish ? After a man has done all that seems pos- 
sible to be done in his own church for the time being, ought 
he to wait for a year or two for another season of special 
work, or oaght he to labor amongst the population around 
him without regard to parish limits ? In a city like Brook- 
lyn, is a minister obligated to do anything for the evangeli- 
zation of the city outside of his own parish? 

Mr. Moody said : A great many men have got very nar- 
row views of what the kingdom of God is. It is to them, 
and so far as they are concerned, a very little field. Take 
it as a general thing, and you will find that those people are 
blessed very little. But if we take in the whole field, we 
will get a different idea of our duty. Suppose I am pastor 
of a church, and I have preached in this town for ten years. 
People have got very familiar with my views and my way 
of presenting the truth. I cannot reach a certain class. 
Here is a brother minister in Bernardstou who has a 
different way of putting things. Let him come and help 
me for three or four weeks, and he will reach a class I can't 
reach. Then I may go over and help him, and reach a class 
he can't reach. Certainly, if a man has got the gift of 
preaching the Gospel with great plainness and simplicity, 
and if he has got such physical resources that he feels that 
he needs to preach often to keep in good condition, by all 



REVIVALS. 



183 



means let him do it. If Dr. Pentecost doesn't preach every 
day in the week down there in Brooklyn, he'll get rusty, 
see if he don't. Spurgeon preaches on an average eight 
times a week. Any man who can preach as Spurgeon can 
ought not to do any pastoral work. There are others that 
can do the pastoral work. The deacons can visit the sick. 
You can get godly, blessed women that will go from house 
to house. If a minister feels that he ought to be preaching 
all the time, that he has got a call to proclaim the glad tid- 
ings to a perishing world, by all means let him do it. If 
he can do more elsewhere than at home, let him go, and 
every one ought to say, " God bless him." There is plenty 
of work in this country — plenty to do; and there is no room 
for this petty jealousy and bickering. Let each of us find 
out what is our own work, and then let us go and do it, and 
the work will be done. I don't like to look at the dark side^ 
That little hymn helps me a great deal: " The Crowning 
Day is Coming." Only a little while and Jesus will be 
crowned. Infidels and skeptics may howl as much as they 
have a mind to. " He must increase; " and neither devils 
nor men can help it. Christ's kingdom is rolling on like 
the little stone cut out of the mouatain ; and it will grind to 
dust all that opposes it. Don't let us be afraid of revivals. 
God often works in ways that are out of the regular order- 
I dare say it looked very strange to see those Israelite^ 
marching around Jericho blowing rams' horns; but the walls 
fell. 

In the evening, Mr. Moody read the verse: "Let the 
redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from 
the hands of the enemy." He then called upon those who 
had been brought to Christ in time of revival to tell about 
it. He was himself converted during a revival, in Dr. Kirk's 
church, in Boston, in 1856. 



184 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



Mr. Sankey said that, though he could not date his con- 
version from any particular moment — with him it was like 
the sunrise rather than a flash of light — yet it was at a 
Methodist revival meeting in Pennsylvania that he received 
his first serious impression toward the new life. 

Dr. Pentecost said that not only himself, but his mother, 
two sisters and a brother now in the ministry, were converted 
during a revival in Kentucky. 

So many other persons sprang to their feet to testify that 
revivals were the occasion of their conversion that there was 
not time during the hour to hear them all. When the clos- 
ing moment arrived, Mr. Moody asked all who had been con- 
verted in time of revival to rise, and nearly the whole audi- 
ence responded- Those who could not say they were con- 
verted at such a time were glad to say that they had been 
greatly blessed in seasons of special revival work. 



CHAPTER XX. 



PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 

DISCOURSE BY DR. BONAR LIGHT IN THE HOUSEHOLD HOW TO 

MAKE THE FAMILY CIRCLE " AS THE DAYS OF HEAVEN UPON 
THE earth" THE SCRIPTURAL WAY OF BRINGING UP CHIL- 
DREN — EARLY CONVERSION, EVEN FROM INFANCY, TO BE EX- 
PECTED. 

Dr. Bonar said: In speaking to you on the subject of 
parents in their relation to their children, let me take for a 
starting-point the 118th Psalm and the 15th verse: "The 
voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the 
righteous." And I may connect with that what is said to 
have been the case in the days when there was darkness in 
Egypt. In the time of that darkness, it is said very beauti- 
fully that in all the tabernacles of the righteous, in all the 
dwellings of Israel, there was light. 

There was light. Now, keeping in mind that I am 
speaking especially to parents, let me say something about 
light. Light in our dwellings contributes to health. An 
Italian proverb says : " If you don't let light in your house, 
you will have to let the doctor in." Light is necessary for 
the oxygenation of the blood in the veins. We cannot go 
on without good sunlight. I need not enlarge upon that, 
but I want you to know and be persuaded that there is noth- 
ing like sunlight in the dwelling. And in like manner there 
must be light in all the dwellings of Israel — the light of joy 

and salvation. To drop the figure, let me say that no family, 

(185) ^ 



186 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



no parents and children, can ever be prosperous and healthy, 
body or soul, unless there is in the dwelling plenty of this 
gladsomeness that is represented by the light. The family 
circle should be the happiest spot that you can point to. 
That is what I want to dwell upon. 

Well, dear brethren, I want to show you that in Israel it 
was so. I hear a great many parents say: "Ah, if you enjoin 
your children to live in God's way, you are putting them 
under an unhappy restraint; you are making them gloomy. 
Well, the first case I take is Abraham's. I find God saying 
this of Abraham in the 18th chapter of Genesis and 19th 
verse. He says: I will not hide this that I am going to do 
from Abraham, seeing that he shall surely become a great 
nation: " For I know him, that he will command his chil- 
dren and his household after him, and they shall keep the 
way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord 
may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of 
him." I think that is good family training. " He will com- 
mand his children; " and if parents have no authority in 
the house, they are not fit to be parents. You must com- 
mand. You must have command. It does not mean any- 
thing stern or very dreadful, but you must have authority, 
so that a word from you will sufiice. " I know Abraham, 
that he will command his children and his household after 
him " — servants as well as children — " and they shall keep 
the way of the Lord." There is a promise with blessing to 
those who will command their children and household in the 
divine manner — "they shall keep the way of the Lord." 
Now, you may say to me: "I suspect Abraham's must have 
been a very unhappy household — very somber." I think it 
was the very opposite. Just think of the affection there was 
in Abraham's house. It was the home of the affections. 
When God wanted to make a trial of Abraham's faith, he 



PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 



187 



said to bim: " Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom 
thon lovest, and offer him for a bni*nt offering." AVhen 
you remember that this act of Abraham was to be a type 
of the Father offering His only begotten and well-be- 
loved Son, yon may still know more of the deep affection 
and the love and gladness that there mnst have been in 
Abraham's dwelling. I am quite sure that when Abra- 
ham and Isaac came back and met Sarah — she must have 
had an anxious time — and when they told her the whole 
story, their dwelling must have been filled with the melody 
and joy of salvation. 

Now, let us go cm to the time of Moses, and look at the 
11th chapter of Deuteronomy and the 19th verse; this in- 
junction is given to us three times, as if to indicate its im- 
portance: "And ye shall tell them (My words) to yom- chil- 
dren, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and 
when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, 
and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon 
the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates." This is 
just a figurative way of teaching that everything in the 
household is to be regulated by regard to God's revealed 
will. And what will be the result? " That your days may 
be multiplied and the days of your children." Much sick- 
ness maybe prevented in the house, perhaps, by better atten- 
tion to God's will in the training of children. "In the land 
which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the 
days of heaven upon the earth." "As the days of heaven 
upon the earth." Now, that is usually explained to mean 
just a long time — a length of time. Ah, it is not only length 
of time; it is the quality of the days that is described, as 
well as the length of the days. The Lord says, " This is the 
way to have heaven upon earth — to have the days of heaven 
upon the earth in youi' family circle." Is that the style in 



188 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



whicii the things appear in your honsehold ? Is it so happy 
that your children can say, as they go out and in, " It is as 
the days of heaven upon the earth." That is what God 
wanted the family in Israel to be. I don't think there was 
anything of severe strictness there, or anything to make it 
otherwise than delightful. I may mention a passing in- 
stance to show how pleasantly things went on in the families 
in Israel. You recollect that when Caleb's daughter, Ach- 
sah, after her marriage, came to meet her father, Caleb said 
unto her, "What wilt thou?" "And she said unto him, 
Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; 
give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her also the 
upper springs and the nether springs." See the affection 
between the parent and the child. The moment she asked 
this gift, his heart flowed out to her, and he said, "Yes, cer- 
tainly, my child, take the upper and the nether springs." 
Caleb's house was a happy home, I am sure. Probably 
Christ had this in mind when He said: " If ye, being evil, 
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much 
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things 
to them that ask Him." Jepthah's daughter, I think I could 
show, was one of the same kind. She was a most affectionate 
daughter, and had a most affectionate father. Indeed, the 
glimpses we get of Israel's dwellings always seem to show 
that they were full of light — full of kindness; they were 
" as the days of heaven upon the earth." 

I wonder if the mothers here have studied the 31st chap- 
ter of Proverbs. Here we find a wife and a mother's char- 
acter, and it is a grand character. " Who can find a virtu- 
ous woman? " — that is, a woman of worth; the word means 
worth — " for her price is far above rubies. The heart 
of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall 
have no need of spoil. She will do him good and 



f 



PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 189 

not evil all the days of tier life." There is a picture 
of the wife and mother in her house — faithful, loving 
and provident. Now notice some of the verses: " She 
seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her 
hands." A very industrious and sensible woman! "She 
perceiveth that her merchandise is good." She takes care 
not to buy things that are not worth buying. And then it 
goes on to say: "She layeth her hands to the spindle, and 
her hands hold the distafif." That is to say, she uses every 
spare moment in some useful employment, and does not 
spend time gossiping with the neighbors. " She stretcheth 
out her hand to the poor; yea, she stretcheth out her hands 
to the needy." She has always something to give and a 
heart to feel for the less fortunate. " She is not afraid of 
the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed 
with scarlet." Before cold weather comes, she has made 
ample provision of clothing. " Her husband is known in 
the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land." 
She takes good care that her husband is respectable. She 
notices how he goes out and in, and sees that he is properly 
dressed. She likes to see that he is all right, and for others 
to see that he is all right. " She openeth her mouth with 
wisdom." When neighbors or friends call upon her, she is 
not in such a hurry but that she can sit down and talk with 
them, and profit them with her wisdom. "And in her tongue 
is the law of kindness." What a happy household it must 
have been! " She looks well to the ways of her household " 
— her children, and all that is done among the servants, see- 
ing that they eat not the bread of idleness. And now we come 
to the climax: " Her children arise up, and call her blessed; 
her husband also, he praiseth her." What do they say? 
" Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest 
them all." Put in our way of speaking: Her children shall. 



190 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



9 



rise up and say, " There never was such a mother as our 
mother. She excelleth them all." Her husband shall say, 
" There is no wife in all the country like my wife. She ex- 
celleth them all." Now there is a glimpse of Israel's happy 
family. Surely, in the tabernacles of the righteous there is 
something of light and sunshine and happiness, as the days 
of heaven upon the earth. I wish every mother would study 
this passage, and study it carefully. 

"Well, then, a word for the fathers. We go on to the 
New Testament for that — to Eph., vi, 4. Here is a word to 
the fathers specially. I don't think it excludes the mothers, 
but it is to the fathers principally: "Ye fathers, provoke not 
your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture 
and admonition of the Lord." What is provoking them to 
wrath ? Well, a father comes in weary, and when the chil- 
dren run to him they get something of this kind: " Oh, go 
away from me! " He irritates his children. They feel they 
cannot come near to him; he is not kind to them. Take 
care of that, father; and take care of leaving an impression 
on your children that you are anything like sullen. That 
will spoil the whole family arrangement. There can be no 
day of heaven upon the earth when the atmosphere is in that 
state — clouded instead of having sunshi ue. And take you 
care to bring them up " iiithe nurture and admonition of the 
Lord." Now, the admonition is teaching. Bringing up 
children in the admonition of the Lord is teaching them the 
Lord's way — fully instructing them concerning it— and this 
should be done from their earliest infancy. But what is 
nurture ? I find it very hard in my own congregation to get 
them to take in readily this word. It does not occur often 
in Scripture — in our translation only this time. It means 
discipline and training; find you are not to be content with 
telling your children the right way, but you are to take 



PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 



191 



pains to train them in the right way — take pains with family 
discipline. And a great part of family discipline, I believe, 
may be found just here: in the example you show. An im- 
mense deal of the nurture i^ just the father's and mother's 
example. Now, I want to illustrate this. The father's and 
mother's example has a very great deal to do with the whole 
tone of the family; so much so, that I think before there 
can be a blessing in the family upon the children, we may 
lay it down as essential that the father and mother be cheer- 
ful and happy people. If the father and mother are not 
happy and cheerful, the children will never be so. It is the 
duty of the parents to be cheerful and happy. It is the 
duty of the father and mother to let the children see what 
they have got that carries them through all the cares and 
difficulties of life. Let the children see this without their 
being told it. Let them read it in their parents' daily 
life. Notice that very remarkable thing that is said 
about the jailer after his conversion. I suspect he must 
have been a rough man, and didn't show much affection 
toward his children before he was converted. But, on that 
very night in which he was changed, it is said, " he was bap- 
tized, and all his, straightway." And notice that other 
clause; it reads this way: " He rejoiced greatly with all his 
house, having believed in God." That means that the whole 
house became changed. There was a delightful affection 
now beaming upon him from his litble children. He re- 
joiced " with all his house." His children could now come 
running to him, as the effect of his conversion. My dear 
friends, be certain that a father's and mother's influence in 
the family will not be very powerful if they are not happy 
themselves; and thus parents should feel their awful respon- 
sibility, not only for conversion in their own case, but for 
exhibiting the joy of the Lord in the family circle. 



192 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



There must be light in the dwellings of Israel. This 
is no way interferes with your parental authority. You 
know, firmness in dealing with children is a very different 
thing from sternness. You may be exceedingly firm, and 
they may see that it is all because of your affection to them. 
A child says, perhaps: " Oh, papa, will you let me go to that 
show?" And you can say, "No; I know better than you, 
and at another time you will agree with me." Let your 
children see that if you refuse them what they want, it is 
all because you love them so much. I know in my own 
father's house, this strictness of discipline that sprang from 
love worked well. There were eight of us — ^five brothers and 
three sisters ; and we were brought up in Scotland in the 
strictest way. People may say: "Ah, that rigorous Scottish 
way: that is Judaism" — as they used to call it. But I can 
assure you that there never was a happier house than ours 
was. On the Sabbath Day, there was never a thought of do- 
ing anything like work, even writing a letter. We were 
taught that it was the Lord's Day, and only the Lord's. We 
didn't even take a walk that day. I don't mean that we 
didn't walk to church and get the open air; but such a thing 
as walking for pleasure or amusement was out of the ques- 
tion. You may think it must have been rather dull and 
gloomy. It was anything but that. On Sunday, we had 
the whole eight of us together, and that made it one of the 
most lightsome days possible. We went to church together, 
came home together, sat down and took our meals together, 
and then got our books and Bible exercises. And we always 
had singing. I cannot say that we were as good as Mr. 
Sankey at singing a tune, but I think we were as good as 
Mr. Moody. You have a great advantage in this country 
that nearly every family can sing hymns, and sing them 
well. We didn't have that advantage in our country, but 



PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 



193 



we had delightful singing nevertheless. I remember my 
father used to throw in now and then a pleasant remark, and 
my mother would throw in something, and we used to enjoy 
these occasions very much. Then we used to have the Cate- 
chism, for we always learned a question of the Shorter Cate- 
chism as regularly as the Sabbath came around; and when 
we got through it, began it again with the proofs. People 
will say, "Ah, that is very gloomy work." I can assure you 
it was nothing but pleasant. We never entered a theater. 
The only time I was ever in a theater was when I went to 
preach in one. The boys at school used to try to tempt us 
and taunt us; you know boys cannot always bear that easily; 
but then, if we felt it, we always knew: " Those boys don't 
know what we have instead. We are far happier at home 
than they ever are in the theater." . As for balls or theaters, 
we knew absolutely nothing of them. And yet I will vent- 
ure to say that we were as cheerful and happy a family as 
could be found. I never heard an oath within my father's 
doors by any one. No one in our house owed a debt to any 
one. My father was strict in the observance of his duties 
toward others, as well as toward us and toward his God. 
All this made our household light and delightsome. I dare 
say we did grumble now and then, but that was just because 
we didn't know what was best. Perhaps you would like to 
ask the question : " Did yoiu' father and mother often speak 
to you about your soul ?" Well, they expected us from the 
earliest days to be Christ's. They used to tell us that it 
ought to be so; and they had their own way of treating us. 
They didn't speak a great deal directly, except as oppor- 
tunity occurred. And here I may mention an incident. A 
brother minister of mine, a most devoted man, had a son^ 
who died when he was about, I think, seventeen — a real 
Christian lad. When that lad was admitted to the Lord's 



194 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



table, liis father thought, " Now, I will not be content with 
my own judgment of the case," and so he had two of the 
office-bearers meet the young man and talk with him. One 
of them was so much interested that he asked, " Tell us how 
it was that your concern about salvation began. Was it your 
father's sermons?" "Oh, no; I liked my father's sermons; 
I liked to hear him preach; but it wasn't that." "Well, 
was it what your father said to you in the house?" " No; 
he often spoke tons at the fireside, but it wasn't that, either." 
" Then, what was it ? " " Well, I will tell you what it was. 
I noticed what he said in his sermons, and I noticed what 
he said to us in the house, and I said to myself, ' I wonder 
if he believes it all ? ' And I used to watch him when he 
wasn't aware, to see whether he was in real earnest with all 
he said. I never found my father inconsistent, and I got 
such an impression of the reality of oterual truth from that 
circumstance; it was that that made me seek salvation." 
You see it was the example. It was not the words of the 
preacher, but it was the life. Oh, parents! live before your 
children so that they shall be constrained to feel that what 
you say is true. "Let your light so shine before men," and 
let your light so shine before your children, " that they, see- 
ing your good works, shall glorify your Father in heaven." 

I would like to have said something about the children 
of the covenant. In 1 Cor., vii, 14, Paul says of the chil- 
dren of believers that they are holy, they are set apart for 
God. There is a great meaning in that. It does not mean 
necessarily that all of them shall be saved, but it looks with 
a very encouraging aspect upon the Christian family. And 
as a fact — I think I am speaking right— I don't know what 
other parents may say on it, but I think I am speaking true 
when I say that when both father and mother are one in 
training the children of the Lord, it is a very, very rare thing 



PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 



195 



not to find the family walking in the fear of God. But per- 
haps the mother is not a converted woman ; she may be a gay 
woman, or at least worldly. Or perhaps the father may be a 
covetous man — set upon the world. If that is the case, the 
whole family arrangement is spoiled. People may say: 
"Look at Eli; his sons did not turn out well." I don't 
know what kind of a mother they had. Perhaps they hadn't 
a godly mother; at least, I would be inclined to explain it 
that way. David's children turned out ill, as the result of 
their ill training. You know it is said of Adoni jah that his 
father had never said "No" to him, and I suspect that David 
did the same with Absalom. When children turn out ill, the 
fault is generally to be found in one or both of the par- 
ents. But as a rule, when both father and mother are one 
in the godly upbringing of their family, it is very rare not 
to see the children turning out well. In the baptism of my 
own children, I have always felt that I am putting them into 
the hands of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and can say, 
they are holy; they are set apart for Them; they are vessels 
for Them to look after; they are vessels for Them to care 
for; and it is a great encouragement. 

Finally, let me say to parents — I have left a great deal 
unsaid — remember this, that you are to be all along expect- 
ing the conversion of your children from their earliest years. 
I believe in early conversion. I cannot tell how soon it may 
appear. I think there are conversions from the womb. In- 
deed, we have one instance of this in the case of John the 
Baptist. But we are to do our part. "We are to let our chil- 
dren see Christ reflected in us, and lead them to love Him. 
Parents, would it not be a dreadful thing if you should be 
taken away and leave behind you children who cannot tell 
whither you have gone ? You don't live a happy Christian 
life. You don't fill your household with the light of rejoic- 



196 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



ing and salvation. And when you have gone — oh, they like 
to think you are in heaven ; but you can make it unmistaka- 
bly sure that you are. If you can do that, you may expect 
that they will all meet you there. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HINTS ON PREACHIN&. 

SUGGESTIONS BY MR. MOODY NATURALNESS USE OF ILLUSTRA- 
TIONS SEIZING AND HOLDING ATTENTION SIMPLE LANGUAGE 

TALKING TO ONE PERSON OTHER PRACTICAL POINTS REMARKS 

BY DR. PENTECOST. 

One evening, Mr. Moody said that he had been asked to 
give some hints on preaching. It was a great deal easier to 
criticise and say how a thing ought to be done than to do 
it; yet if there was anything he could say that would help 
his brethren, he would be glad to say it. We ought all to 
help one another. 

In the first place, said he, no man ought to give up his 
business and enter the ministry unless he feels that he can't 
help it. There are a great many men in the pulpit who 
ought never to have been there. They have mistaken their 
vocation. They might have been much more useful as busi- 
ness men, or lawyers, or doctors, or mechanics. A man 
should only enter the ministry when he is constrained to do 
so by love to God and love to man. It cost me the hardest 
struggle of my life to abandon business and give myself en- 
tirely to the Lord's work. I was driven into it. The best 
evidence that a man is called to the ministry is the actual 
consequence of his efforts. A man should see souls saved as 
the fruit of his work before he concludes that his entire time 
ought to be given to that kind of work. 

Another thing: If a man is going to preach, he wants to 

be himself. Let him be perfectly natural. If he tries to be 

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198 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



like anybody else, people will soon see it, and his vanity 
will be exposed. Such a man can do no good. 

Another thing: We must imitate the mode of teaching 
of Jesus Christ. He taught in parables; and travelers say 
that there is hardly a natural object in Palestine that He 
did not make use of to illustrate some truth. He spoke so 
that even the little children could understand Him. There 
isn't an unrepentant prodigal in this country that would not 
like to get the story of the prodigal son out of his mind, 
but he can't. Stories and object lessons help to fix truths 
in the mind. Often I have heard a speaker trying to explain 
some truth, and thought, " Oh, if he would only give us an 
illustration!" What is addressed to both the eye and ear 
makes more impression than what is addressed to the ear 
alone. Use the imagination. Weave in illustrations. H- 
lustrations are to truths like windows that let in the light on 
them. 

Another thing: When you talk to people, get their atten- 
tion at once. If you don't get their attention the first ten 
minutes, you have lost your audience. Satan tries to divert 
their minds, and if you don't get hold of their attention the 
very first thing, they will be thinking of business, making 
bargains, marrying wives, and roaming all over the world. 
Start out with some striking thought or some illustration 
that will seize their attention, and you will generally man- 
age to hold it. 

Another thing: When a man has a reputation for being 
long, he had better get out of the ministry. Did you ever 
hear anyone complain that a minister's sermons and prayers 
were too short? But how often do you hear complaints 
that they are too long. Congregations are dwindling away 
for that reason when they ought to be increasing. Young 
people are falling away from the habit of attending church. 



HINTS ON PREACHING. 



199 



Remember that we aje living now in a fast age — a century 
of railroads and telegraphs. Men's minds move quicker 
than they used to. So let us say what we want to say in as 
striking a manner as we can, and then stop. Many men 
don't know just where to stop, and think they must round 
out a passage nicely so as to leave a good impression. But 
it is a great deal better to stop abruptly than to feel around 
for a good stopping-place. 

Another thing: I have heard men say, " Now, my friends, 
I have got a very striking incident; it is a very striking 
one, very thrilling; " and then go on four or five minutes 
without telling it. If you have an impressive story or 
thought, don't tell the people that it is impressive. Let 
them find that out themselves. Let it take them by sur- 
prise. 

Another thi ag: Don't use big words. Remember that 
the great majority of people can't understand them. Two 
ministers, discussing this point, asked a man if he could 
draw an inference. " I don't know that I could," said he, 
" but I have a strong team of horses, and I am pretty sure 
they could." And don't be all the time saying, " It doesn't 
mean that in the original," just to show that you know He- 
brew and Greek. Plain people don't like that. If you have 
to refer to the original to explain a point, do it in such a 
way that it will not look as if you wanted to parade your 
learning. And then don't strive for smooth -sounding 
phrases. Some men try hard to be eloquent. Any man 
that does that makes a fool of himself. He can have no 
influence. Men will say of him, " He cares more for his 
reputation than he does for my soul." 

Another thing : Don't talk to men when they are asleep. 
How some ministers can do this is to me a mystery. If you 
find people getting drowsy, make yourself more interesting, 



200 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



or tell them a story about something right in that neighbor- 
hood; at all events, do something to wake them up. If you 
can't wake them up in any other way, get them to sing. Dr. 
Bonar tells us that in a certain part of Scotland it used to 
be the custom for a man when he got sleepy to stand up. 
I don't know but we might adopt that custom now. 

Dr. Pentecost said he thoroughly agreed with what Mr. 
Moody had said about the call to the ministry. He was 
pained to see many religious papers explaining the dearth 
of students for the ministry by pointing to the attractions of 
business and the professions. Any man so drawn away by 
worldly inducements was better out of the ministry. As for 
himself, he believed he could not live under the woe that 
would rest upon him if he did not preach the Gospel. One 
reason why many ministers are ineffective is because they 
feel it a task to prepare two sermons a week. He believed 
that if every sermon were considered a message from God to 
men, it would not be thought a task. The call to the min- 
istry applies to every sermon, and it is quite possible when 
preparing every sermon to feel that you are called to preach it. 
The best sermons are those that you preach to yourself quite 
as much as to your hearers. In regard to people sleeping, 
an old preacher said: "It is mighty hard to preach to roast 
beef and baked beans." People often put themselves in such 
physical conditions that God himself can't reach them. In 
Tegard to long sermons, Mr. Moody must remember that he 
can talk more words in a minute than any man on this con- 
tinent. Dr. Pentecost, in some further remarks, spoke of 
the importance of more study in the Bible, rather than all 
around it, in our theological seminaries. 

Another thing: I once read of a lawyer who used to pick 
out the dullest- looking man in the jury and talk to him, be- 
lieving that what that man could understand the others could. 



HINTS ON PREACHING. 



201 



He was generally successful. It helps me a great deal to 
pick out one person, a young man or a young girl, and talk 
as if to that one alone. Of course you shouldn't keep your 
eye on one person all the time ; he might become embar- 
rassed; but if you talk as if to one person you will have 
more effect on the mass. 

Again: Some object to bringing in things that make 
people laugh. I don't know that I ever intended to make 
people laugh. If a man tries to make people laugh — makes 
a study of it — he will be sure to make a fool of himself. 
But if your way of illustrating a truth happens to raise a 
laugh, there is no harm in it, and it may do a great deal of 
good. You know, when you are carrying a pan of milk, if 
the milk moves to one side, how easily it moves to the other 
side. When people have laughed at something, then is the 
time when you can get at their deepest feelings. At all 
events, it is a great deal better to have them laugh or smile 
now and then than to have them go to sleep. 

Again: It is a good thing to catechise the people a little 
now and then, to see if they understand your sermons. A 
man said to me in Chicago: "I liked your sermon last Sun- 
day." "Did you? What was the text ? " "I can't remem- 
ber." "What was the subject?" "I can't remember." 
"What do you remember ? " "Well, I liked the way you 
talked." It was a lesson to me. If that is all people re- 
member of what you say, you will not do them much good. 

Again: Don't be afraid to say things that will make peo- 
ple mad. That may be the only way to bring them to a 
conviction of sin. When a baby has to be waked up, it 
often wakes up cross. Don't be discouraged if people wake 
up mad. If they are unforgiven sinners, it is better to give 
them the truth and wake them up mad than to let them sleep 
on. 

M 



202 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



And again: Don't make yourself too cheap. Some men 
just talk, talk, talk — talk on any subject, talk all the time, 
talk by the yard. Be very careful to speak only when you 
have something to say. If you have nothing to say, don't 
say it, When men talk just for the sake of talking, the 
churches don't want them, the Sunday schools don't want 
them, the prayer meetings don't want them. There is no 
place in God's vineyard where they are wanted. They are 
just nuisances. Now, I believe that it is the privilege of 
every child of God to be used by God in his or her voice, 
but it is a study. We are to study just how and where to 
speak, and be guided by the Spirit of God. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



OUR SOURCE OF POWER. 

ADDRESS BY THE REV. DR. A. J. GORDON, OF BOSTON FRUITS OF 

THE SPIRIT CONVERSION, TO TAKE CONSECRATION, TO GIVE 

PRIVILEGE OF THE CHRISTIAN TO BE SO FILLED WITH THE 
POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST AS TO OVERFLOW. 

Dr. Gordon said: It refreshes me to remember that we 
have the Holy Spirit always with us. In the 9th chapter of 
Acts, and 31st verse, we read: ''Then had the churches rest 
throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were 
edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the 
comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." It is our 
privilege to walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. We 
ought to have real, solid comfort when the Comforter is with 
us. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. Said a minis- 
ter: "A man once came to me saying, ' I am not happy. I 
am praying all the time for it, and yet I am not happy.' I 
said to him, 'Don't pray to be happy, but pray. Father, 
glorify Thyself.' " "You remember the words of the Lord 
Jesus: "Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? 
Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I 
unto this hour." It was not a question of being saved from 
the trouble, for He immediately turned from that and said, 
Father, glorify Thy name. I believe that is the great secret 
of power. I remember Mr. Jay, in his " Morning Exercises,"^ 
speaks of a poor woman in his parish, who was one of the 
most distressed Christians he ever saw. She was always in 



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trouble. She said to him: "Oh, Mr. Jay, if the Lord knew 
how much trouble I was going to cause Him, He wouldn't 
have had anything to do with me." He answered her that 
God did know what trouble we were going to cause Him, 
every one of us. However faithless and backsliding we 
were going to be, He knew it all from the beginning, and 
yet He did have to do with us, and received us. She 
wiped away her tears, and said: "Well, if the Lord does 
save me, He will never hear the last of it." And that should 
be the spirit of us all. Let us feel that, as brands plucked 
from the burning, we must praise Him, and praise Him, and 
praise Him, throughout eternity. We just want to enter 
into the comfort of the Spirit. It is for us to appropriate 
it. Another of the fruits of the Spirit is peace. You haven't 
to make your peace with God ; it has been made for you, 
and you have only joyfully and gratefully to enter into it. 
What a different thing is making peace with God from en- 
tering into peace. A man is " bound over to keep the peace." 
But when a sinner is saved, God's peace keeps him. And 
again, another of the fruits of the Spirit is love. Can any- 
thing be more tender than those words of Paul in Rom., xv, 
30?— "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus 
Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit that ye strive 
together with me in your prayer to God for me.'' The 
" love of the Spirit " — that is what we have. The church of 
Ephesus is spoken of as having left its first love. A plain 
man once rose up in a meeting and said: "My friends, I 
have found out a new interpretation of that passage. I 
think the first love is God's love toward us. ' We love Him 
because He first loved us.' The trouble is that we are taken 
up with our love to God. I have been in that condition my- 
self, and now, after many years, I am more than ever dis- 
satisfied with my love to God, and I just want to rest on 



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His love. I want to get back to-night to the first love.'* 
Whatever may be thought of that as an effort of interpreta- 
tion, it IS andoubtedly true that we need to realize the great 
love of God to us — of Father, Son and Spirit — and then we 
will have no lack of love to others. 

I would like to say something on the subject of being 
filled with the Spirit, and its relation to our work in the 
world. Now, a great many seem to think that being filled 
with the Spirit is something mysterious, intangible, and 
difficult to apprehend. This cannot be so, because it is a 
command that we be thus filled, and God would not command 
anything so mysterious that we could not grasp it, appre- 
hend it, undertake it. It is just as much a command as that 
we should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do works 
meet for repentance. We are to live in communion with the 
ascended Christ, and so drink in the power of the Spirit that 
we shall be filled. Only thus can we have power. For you 
must have noticed this fact, that there is no marked instance 
of great success on the part of Christ himself and the Apos- 
tles where we do not have the account prefaced by some 
such words as "being filled with the Holy Ghost." It was 
so when Peter came before the council. It was so when 
Stephen saw Jesus. It was so when Paul gave that awful 
rebuke — ^spoke those burning words to the sorcerer. All 
through the Acts of the Apostles, when anything signal or 
mighty is done, you have it prefaced with the remark, "be-^ 
ing filled with the Holy Ghost." And I suppose it is just as 
true to-day. If we do anything great in the name of the 
Lord Jesus, it is because we are filled with the Spirit. I 
want also to call your attention to this further fact, that if 
a man is filled with the Spirit, power will flow from him 
inevitably. The accidental miracles of our Lord are among 
the most remarkable — those that, as it were, He spilled over 



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by the way. While He was on His way to do one miracle, 
He dropped another, almost as if He didn't intend it. He 
was going to heal the daughter of Jairus, when the woman 
with an issue of blood reached out her hand, touched the 
hem of His garment, and was healed. When an electric jar 
is filled, only a touch will unload it. So it might be in the 
experience of every believer. If he is in the Spirit, filled 
with the Spirit, he will do work for the Master almost acci- 
dentally; he will do good without knowing it. I saw in 
one of the daily papers a story which may help to illustrate 
the point. "I was riding," said a gentleman, "between 
Boston and a city in the West, and I was greatly puzzled to 
notice that, while there were two tracks that ran side by 
side, one of the tracks was very green, and the other was 
sandy and barren. I asked a gentleman how it happened. 
* Why,' said he, ' I will tell you. This track here that is so 
green is the one on which they bring vast cargoes of grain 
from the West to the ocean, and it is inevitable that some 
of the wheat, rye, barley or oats shall be shaken off into the 
ground. Then it takes root and springs up. On the other 
track is where they take the empty cars back, and of course 
no seeds drop out, and the track isn't green.'" I thought 
that that represents two classes of Christians. The one 
class prove unfruitful because they have not made way for 
the Spirit to enter into them and fill them. The other class 
are so filled with the Spirit that they drop seeds here and 
there and make the wilderness rejoice and blossom as the 
rose. They make even the desert become a garden, and 
they do it inevitably. Oh, I think I know some Christians 
who have done good without knowing it, without intending 
it. I don't know but that, if we were fully the Lord's, the 
greater part of the good we did would be that of which we 
were not cognizant. Service would overflow from us. That 



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is the true idea, is it not, of the Christian ? Speaking of 
the Spirit, Christ said: "He shall be in you a well of water" 
— not that needs to be pumped, not that needs to be dipped, 
but a well of water — "springing up into everlasting life." 
There is the overflowing ; and if we have the Spirit dwelling 
in us in His fullness, we shall be constantly thus overflow- 
ing. Oh, dear brethren, I would that this hour we might 
thus be filled. 

If we are to be constantly filled with the Spirit, it must 
come from the daily consecration of ourselves to the Lord. 
I want just to make that point clear. In conversion, we 
take; in consecration, we give. I don't think there is a pas- 
sage in the New Testament, where, speaking of the subject 
of conversion, the unbeliever is asked to give; it is always 
take. Just think of it. " God so loved the world that He 
gave His only begotten Son." What do we do with a gift? 
Take it. God gave Jesus Christ, and we take Him. " The 
gift of God is eternal life." And what are we to do with 
that gift? "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of 
life freely." So it is constantly; and I think that if that 
could be made plain to every unconverted person, it would 
then be perfectly easy for them to understand how they can 
be saved now. Not long ago, a man who was telling his 
experience, said: " I remember the time when I didn't know 
whether I was converted or not. I was for many months in 
that position. I knew that I wanted to give myself to the 
Lord, and yet I didn't find rest. Friends said to me, ' Pray 
on;' but I didn't get it that way. At last, some one had 
wisdom enough to tell me, ' Just take what the Lord has 
given, and go on your way rejoicing.' I did so, and light 
came into my soul." During our tabernacle work in Bos- 
ton, some one said to me: "There is a lady over there who 
has been here every night. I know her very well. She has 



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been in great darkness of mind because she can't get con- 
verted. She is a very wealthy lady, and lives in a fine 
house, given to her by her husband. But she is in great 
distress of mind about her soul. I wish you would go and 
talk with her." I talked with her. "Haven't you peace 
with God?" I asked. "No; I have been seeking it for 
years." "What have you done?" "I have done every- 
thing. I have prayed, consecrated myself, been liberal, 
given everything that the Lord seemed to ask. I am sure 
I have done everything I could." " Yet you haven't peace ? " 
"No; and I don't seem to be any nearer than when I first 
began." " Well, certainly the Lord wants to save you. Do 
you own the house where you live?" " Oh, yes." "How 
do you know you own itf She stopped, and didn't 
know exactly what to say. Said I: "I suppose you know 
you own it, because, when you walk through the house, 
you feel happy. You walk around the house and look at it, 
and it makes you so happy to look at it." " No, that isn't 
the reason. It is because I have got the deed my husband 
gave me before he died." " Well, now; all this while you 
have been trying to get God to give you something. Let 
me tell you, first of all, that He has given you something, 
and, in order that there may be no doubt about it, I want 
you to receive it on precisely the same evidence as that by 
which you know you own your house." I opened to these 
words, and said: " Bead them after me — 'This is the record' 
— ah, we have got the title here. You have been looking at 
"^your feelings, and at what you have been doing. ' This is 
the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this 
life is in His Son.' Then God has given us eternal life in 
His Son. Do you accept Christ ? Have you accepted Himf " 
have tried to. I believe I do." "Then, if you have 
accepted Christ, * He that hath the Son hath life, and he that 



OUR SOURCE OF POWER. 



209 



hath not the Son of God hath not life.' " "We read on: 
" * These things have I written unto you that believe on the 
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have 
eternal life.' There it is, in black and white." She went 
away smiling. She thought she had got a new revelation, 
but it was only a new apprehension of the old revelation. 
Then let us tell those who are in the dark on this subject, 
that they have only to take the gift ; that they may say: 
"Unworthy and sinful as I am, I now take this gift of 
eternal life as it is offered to me in Christ. So you see, in 
conversion, all we have to do is to take. But in consecra- 
tion, we have to give. The Apostle Paul says: "Present 
your bodies a living sacrifice unto God. In other words, 
"Give your time, strength, intellect, heart, everything you 
have and are, to the Lord. If you give yourself, it doesn't 
matter what else you give. Your gold and silver will be 
sanctified. Give yourself utterly to God. Let your body 
become indeed a temple of the Holy Ghost. Then shall you 
know what it is to be filled with the Spirit, and you shall 
abound in every good work. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE QREAT COMMISSION. 

DISCOUKSE BY THE REV. DE. BEOOKES, OF ST, LOUIS WHO ARE TO 

PEEACH TO WHOM WE AEE TO PEEACH WHAT WE ARE TO 

PREACH THE ONE IMPEEATIVE COMMAND TO EVERY CHRISTIAN. 

Dr. Brookes said: Let me ask your attention to the 
words in Mark, xvi, 15 : " Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall 
be damned." This is the great commission. To whom was 
this commission given? To the immediate disciples of our 
Lord — a company of humble fishermen. Only a moment 
before, as we read in the 14th verse of this chapter, He had 
found it necessary to "upbraid them with their unbelief and 
hardness of heart, because they believed not them which 
had seen Him after He was risen." It was to men like these 
that He left the work of proclaiming the Gospel after He 
should ascend. 

And now what is the commission? Let me ask your 
attention to the first word of it. It is : " Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; " not "Stay 
at home, and wait for sinners to come to you." Christ him- 
self set the example of going. We are told in Mark, ii, 35, 
that, " In the morning, rising up a great while before day, 
He went out" — no doubt He was weary — "and departed into 

a solitary place, and there prayed." And then every little 

(210) 



THE GREAT COMMISSION. 



211 



while He would sa^ to His disciples: " Let us go into the 
next town." " Let us go." He set us the example of going, 
with eai'nestness and energy — going all the time, until He 
went, in obedience to God's will, to the cross. 

What were the disciples to go with ? I do not underrate 
what the world values so highly— culture and all that; but 
let us remember that these disciples were poor, illiterate 
men. Christ said to them: " Don't provide yourselves with 
scrip. Don't take two coats. Go in simple dependence 
upon the power of the risen Christ, trusting to Him for all 
that you need." Perhaps they had said to Him: " Why, we 
haven't been to school. We have no means." But He told 
them not to think of that. He said: "Go, bearing the 
simple message of My love to dying men. Go, trusting to 
Me for all your wants. Go, and let men see what manner 
of men you are; and they will be forced to believe that the 
arm that was mighty enough to save you is the arm on which 
the world swings. I must have objects on which to lavish 
My love. Go out into the highways and hedges. Go! Go! " 

Who was it that was to go ? "Go ye and preach the 
Gospel." It was not angels who were to go. Angels could 
not preach. An angel struck off the chains that bound 
Peter, and opened the prison doors to allow him to go and 
preach; but the heavenly visitant was not permitted himself 
to preach. Man has been chosen to proclaim the Gospel to 
man. And I want to lay it upon your hearts that you are 
all personally ambassadors for Christ. It is not simply cer- 
tain men who have been selected by their brethren of differ- 
ent denominations and set apart by the observance of certain 
forms and ceremonies. Every Christian in this place this 
afternoon — the oldest and the youngest, the educated and 
the uneducated — is an ambassador for Christ. You are all 
empowered to go forth in Christ's name and beseech sinners 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



to be reconciled to God. Every believer in this audience is 
bound by tlie highest considerations to give God his measure 
of service. We are all commanded to do what we can to- 
ward preaching the Gospel to every creature. And every 
one who obeys this injunction, finds, by a very happy expe' 
rience, that the most natural and delightful thing a Chris- 
tian can do is to tell the glad news to others. All God's 
commands are in the line to the desires of the regenerated 
heart. When He commands us to proclaim His mercy to 
others, that command is in line with the prompting of the 
Holy Ghost within us. It is no hardship; it involves no 
self-denial. If we are really members of Christ's body, and 
temples of the Holy Ghost, it is our highest joy in life to 
proclaim the story of the cross. 

Where are we to go? The command is: "Go ye into all 
the worldy They were to go into all the world, and preach 
the Gospel " among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." 
Who but One that was the Son of God could have enter- 
tained such a conception — starting with these few, humble, 
unlettered men at Jerusalem, and terminating with nothing 
less than the habitable globe itself ? Were He merely human, 
such an idea would have been preposterous. How were these 
men to propagate this religion with all the philosophy and 
literature of the world against them ? And yet the appar- 
ently impossible was accomplished. They went forth and 
preached everywhere, " the Lord working with them, and 
confirming the word with signs following." Notice here 
that the Lord worked with them, but He could not have 
worked with them unless they had worked. Every Christian 
who is not working is just hindering the Lord from working 
with him. But whenever any one is found putting forth 
honest effort in Christ's name, then the risen Christ, the 
personal Christ, is found working with him, and manifest- 



THE GREAT COMMISSION. 



213 



ing His power through him. We are, I say, commanded 
to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel." Some 
people, it is true, are not in a condition to receive the good 
news, and so we must not be surprised if men do not heed 
our words and repent. A young man was once in prison, 
and a friend who took an interest in him worked very hard 
to get him liberated. At last, after a great deal of difficulty, 
he secured a pardon from the Governor. With that pardon 
in his pocket, he went to see the prisoner in his cell. To 
his astonishment and grief, he found that the young man 
gave not the slightest sign of penitence. On the contrary, 
he vowed that when he got out he would kill the prosecut- 
ing attorney, and kill the judge who sentenced him. His 
heart was harder than ever. His friend reasoned with him 
and pleaded with him, but all to no purpose. The messen- 
ger of mercy was compelled to go out with the pardon still 
in his pocket, and leave the obdiu-ate man to his fate. So 
it is with many of the sinners to whom we are to preach. 
But, nevertheless, there are many who are in a condition to 
receive the good news, and who will hear it gladly when told 
in simplicity and in the power of the Spirit. When Jesus 
preached, we are told that the common people heard Him 
gladly. 

Let us look at that word "preach." The disciples were 
told to preach the Gospel to every creature." The word 
"preach" here means not only to speak in set and formal 
discourse, but to talk the Gospel. It means talking as v/ell 
as what we understand by preaching; talking in the freedom 
and familiarity of personal conversation. It also means to 
tell or announce thoroughly. Paul for thi-ee Sabbath Days 
reasoned with the Jews out of the Scriptures concerning 
Christ. A good many people could tell all they could recall 
about the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament in about 



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GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



three minutes. Paul found enough to occupy him three 
Sabbath Days. J esus Christ is before the mind of the Holy 
Ghost from Genesis to Revelation. If we are to be success- 
ful, we must tell what we find about Christ all through the 
Bible. 

What is it that we are to preach ? " Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel^ Paul says, in 1 Cor,, xv, 3, 
4: " For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also 
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the 
Scriptures: and that He was buried, and that He rose again 
the third day, according to the Scriptures." Notice those 
words, " according to the Scriptures." When a man rests 
on God's Word, he can speak boldly; he is not afraid of 
a face of clay. A man may have an impressive delivery 
and poetical rhetoric; but every pulpit in the land may be 
tested by this rule: " Is what is said, according to the Scrip- 
tures? " I would like to set it ringing in the ears of every 
professor in a theological seminary, every pastor, every 
evangelist, every Sunday school teacher, every private Chris- 
tian, that he is not preaching the Gospel unless he preaches 
the atonement of Christ for our sins, in om* place upon the 
tree, as the only means by which eternal justice could be 
satisfied, and fallen man forgiven. If an angel from heaven 
should preach any other gospel, let him be anathema. 
Though he should appear among us resplendent in the rai- 
ment of the celestial hosts, yet should we say: "Avaunt! 
thou cursed wretch. Back to the depths of hell from whence 
you came! Though you may have pretended to come from 
Heaven, you are speaking by the authority of the Devil." 
Any man who denies the atoning sacrifice of Christ by the 
shedding of His precious blood as the only way of salvation, 
is preaching another gospel than the one delivered to us; 
and he will as certainly call down upon him the curse of 



THE GREAT -COM MISSION. 



215 



God as tliat lie is a living being. You may say that is very 
plain. I mean it to be plain. 

To whom is the Gospel to be preached ? "To every 
creature.''^ This means personal, hand-to-hand contact with. 
the unsaved — man to man and woman to woman. Look 
through the Scriptures and you will be surprised to see how 
much springs out of interviews with single persons. The 
call is to you personally, and it summons you to personal 
dealing in the name of Christ with every creature in the 
range of your influence. No matter how low, no matter how 
foul he may be, no matter how forgotten by the world, your 
Master is able to save to the uttermost, and you are His 
appointed instruments to proclaim His mercy. He doesn't 
say: " Go and address great multitudes;" but He does say: 
" Go and preach the Gospel to every creature." In looking 
at some apparently hopeless case, you may be tempted to 
think: " Oh, some creatm^es are hardly worth saving; " but 
how do you know that from that very one a rich tribute of 
praise may not arise to the Lord Jesus Christ ? I believe 
that in these last days Christ is dealing in a very strange way, 
as it may seem to us ; when He is taking up pugilists, thieves,, 
and illiterate and outcast men, and using them to bear testi- 
mony to the power of His grace. It is no concern of ours 
whether the creatures with whom we deal are prepossessing 
or not. The command is to " preach the Gospel to every 
creature." 

And now, what is the result of the preaching of this Gos- 
pel ? " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but 
he that believeth not shall be damned." How simple it is. 
I thank God for this simplicity. The way of salvation is 
made so plain, and the consequence of accepting or reject- 
ing it is made so clear, that he who runs may read. Let us 
make these great central traths as plain in our preaching as- 



216 



GEMS FROM NORTHFIELD. 



they have been made in the Scriptures. Let us give them 
the same relative prominence in our preaching as God him- 
self has given them in His written Word. Let us " preach 
the Gospel to every creature," and let us tell them all the 
truth. 



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